Advisory Board November 13, 2025
Although leaders aim to inspire and energize their workers, the language they use can be “more fog than fuel” — relying on vague jargon that leads to confusion and misinterpretation. Writing for the Harvard Business Review, Andrea Belk Olson, CEO of Pragmadik, explains why using heavy jargon can hinder organizational strategy and what active leadership should do instead to transform their corporate language into action.
The problem with jargon
Although corporate strategies aim to inspire and energize employees, the language used is often full of abstractions such as “innovation,” “excellence,” or “agility” — all of which can become “more fog than fuel,” Olson writes.
The problem with using jargon or other abstract language is both psychological and cultural. How people...
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