I have been very lucky in my career to meet some very intelligent and exceptionally well qualified people. It has helped me to learn so much and has given me a lot of insight which benefits not only me but, THC and our clients too.
The scholars, the experts and the technical specialists we have worked with, give us a huge range of ideas to expand on when we are tailoring solutions for our clients... Well... when they are communicated clearly anyway.
I do wonder from time to time if some people are more concerned with their ideas sounding impressive, than making them understandable. The way we use language is so very important when we are trying to communicate our ideas. You can use any amount of extended vocabulary you like but, sometimes, it’s serves to just keep it simple. Let me give you an example... “During a recent unplanned inspection of domestic facility, a faulty valve was identified. The failed system was allowing thermally agitated dihydrogen-monoxide to be released into a food preparation area.” Makes perfect sense right..? No? Ok, let’s try again... “When I popped into the kitchen the other day, I noticed the hot tap was dripping.” Have I made my point? This deliberate over complication isn’t helping people to understand, it is confusing them into submission. The sad truth is, I see this far too often. We regularly get called into new clients who have had a consultant or some other “specialist” in to develop a system, only to find that when they came to work with it, they didn’t understand what it was all about. It had never been explained in terms they understood, in language they could work with. It was just a showcase for the “expert” who had written it for them.
The problem has a couple of root causes. One is the fact that many consultants still try to maintain some sense of mystery about ISO. Well, they need to keep themselves in work right... The other is that these “experts” can leave people too baffled to even begin questioning what’s actually going on with their business. Well, not anymore. Whilst, I fully appreciate that there is huge wealth of technical knowledge out there, if people aren’t prepared to share it a client appropriate level, it’s no help to anyone. So what can you do to cut through the jargon? For starters, something we must never forget to do is ask if we don’t really understand. It’s not a weakness, it’s a tool we can all use. It’s how we learn! To start getting you back in control, we will be updating our blog and social feeds over the next few weeks. The idea is to give you a practical understanding of some of the areas we feel have been over complicated of late. We’re not dumbing it down but, we think it’s high time that people saw that there is no dark art or mystery to running a management system. You don’t need a “black belt” to fight back against this ever growing list jargon. It’s time to get back to what this was all meant to be about. Putting you in control of your business, your way! Don’t forget to subscribe to our LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook feeds to stay updated and feel free to ask us if there is any jargon you want busting. Stay tuned...