5 ms·

Gen Z and Millennials don't know what their colleagues are talking about

2 points by mindracer 3y ago

PaulHoule 3y ago
There's the effect of experience. The intern in my office today has never heard of GitHub. Sometimes I struggle with young anime fans because even though I am only 2.5x their age I have been an anime fan for 10-20x the time I am so the number of series I've seen and experience I have means I really have to slow down not to drench them with a firehose.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  > The intern in my office today has never heard of GitHub. This genuinely made me feel a sliver of hope for the next generation.
JohnFen 3y ago
Well, the entire purpose of that sort of jargon is to baffle and obfuscate. I don't think there's anything special about the younger generations not understanding this sort of BS. Older generations didn't understand it either at first. They've just had more years to get used to it.
proc0 3y ago
Well, I thought it I was the only one, or at least an outlier. The jargon is driving me insane. It's not just the jargon, it's also commonly used words that are overloaded, like 'leadership', or 'initiative'. These words have multiple meanings and every manager I've had has a slightly different perspective on each one. Unfortunately any attempt I made to clarify intent and expectations in regards to this corporate vocabulary is interpreted as questioning "the leadership" and being a difficult worker.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  > any attempt I made to clarify intent and expectations in regards to this corporate vocabulary is interpreted as questioning "the leadership" and being a difficult worker. I suspect that you're looking for meaning at a level where it doesn't exist. These are BS words and phrases, intended to sound smart and authoritative without actually meaning anything of substance whatsoever. That's why you aren't finding consensus as to exact meaning: there is no exact meaning, by design. Your attempts to gain clarity are interpreted as questioning leadership because the purpose of using those phrases is not to give clarity, but to express authority. It comes down to the various purposes of jargon. Jargon is often used in order to make communications more clear. However, jargon is also often used as status signifiers. In that case, the purpose is to exclude people who aren't part of the "in" group, not to make communications clear.
  - proc0 3y ago
    Good point, thanks.

2 points by mindracer 3y ago

There's the effect of experience. The intern in my office today has never heard of GitHub. Sometimes I struggle with young anime fans because even though I am only 2.5x their age I have been an anime fan for 10-20x the time I am so the number of series I've seen and experience I have means I really have to slow down not to drench them with a firehose.

JohnFen 3y ago
> The intern in my office today has never heard of GitHub. This genuinely made me feel a sliver of hope for the next generation.

JohnFen 3y ago

Well, the entire purpose of that sort of jargon is to baffle and obfuscate. I don't think there's anything special about the younger generations not understanding this sort of BS. Older generations didn't understand it either at first. They've just had more years to get used to it.

proc0 3y ago

Well, I thought it I was the only one, or at least an outlier. The jargon is driving me insane. It's not just the jargon, it's also commonly used words that are overloaded, like 'leadership', or 'initiative'. These words have multiple meanings and every manager I've had has a slightly different perspective on each one. Unfortunately any attempt I made to clarify intent and expectations in regards to this corporate vocabulary is interpreted as questioning "the leadership" and being a difficult worker.

JohnFen 3y ago
> any attempt I made to clarify intent and expectations in regards to this corporate vocabulary is interpreted as questioning "the leadership" and being a difficult worker. I suspect that you're looking for meaning at a level where it doesn't exist. These are BS words and phrases, intended to sound smart and authoritative without actually meaning anything of substance whatsoever. That's why you aren't finding consensus as to exact meaning: there is no exact meaning, by design. Your attempts to gain clarity are interpreted as questioning leadership because the purpose of using those phrases is not to give clarity, but to express authority. It comes down to the various purposes of jargon. Jargon is often used in order to make communications more clear. However, jargon is also often used as status signifiers. In that case, the purpose is to exclude people who aren't part of the "in" group, not to make communications clear.
- proc0 3y ago
  Good point, thanks.