Language for Transition, EuroIA 2018, Dublin
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An organisation is its language. You cannot innovate an organisation if you stick to its current language. So what role does language play in the transition of an organisation towards a new way of working? And what are mechanisms that you can apply if you are trying to change an organisation?
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Language for Transition, EuroIA 2018, Dublin
- 1. Namahn Language for Transition Koen Peters, EuroIA 2018 Dublin kp@namahn.com - @2pk_koen EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 1
- 2. “An organization is its language.” Paul Pangaro
- 3. Namahn Language and conversations “An organization consists of conversations.” “An organization’s language is the basis for all transactions, for all business.” “Language affects, even constitutes the ways people perceive their reality.” “An organization’s ability to create a (new) language is synonymous with it’s ability to evolve.” EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 3
- 4. “ Innovation Intelligenc e” ( 2015)
- 5. Namahn Namahn Systemic design methodology EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 5
- 6. What role can language play in projects of transition?
- 7. Namahn Language and transformation… EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 7
- 8. Words are never neutral, always coloured!
- 9. Words can disguise, mask meaning, or they can dramatize, amplify…
- 10. Language shapes our perspective on society and the world.
- 13. LTI (Lingua Tertii Imperii)
- 14. Namahn Characteristics of LTI: Regulated and repeated One-sided, one-dimensional, narrow No difference between spoken and written language (you can only shout it) Neologisms: aufnorden, Blitzkrieg, Endsieg… Prefixes: Volkswagen, Volksgemeinschaft, Weltanschauung Euphemisms: Sonderbehandlung, Krise, Evakuierung Abbreviations: SS, KZ, … Metaphors: connotations to military world, sports, religion, machines EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 14
- 15. LTI was (is) poisonous for the mind
- 17. Never underestimate the power of language…
- 18. Namahn Trump’s rhetorical linguistic techniques Superlatives: “yuuuuge” Hyperbole: “the whole world is blowing up” Binaries: criminal aliens vs. hard-working Americans Repetition: “That’s wrong. They were wrong. It’s the NYT, they’re always wrong…” Short and simple sentences; verb-heavy rather than noun-heavy Register: casual, private talk, used in public, formal circumstances: “you know” EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 18
- 19. Namahn Mechanisms in language EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 19
- 20. Metaphors
- 24. Tree metaphor
- 28. House (hotel) of information
- 33. Namahn Markedness vs. unmarkedness Zerubavel: “The word choices we make (every day without even realizing it) expose the subtly encoded ways we talk about race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, social status etc.” Examples: male nurses, working mom… Techniques: Foregrounding: “home phone”, “I’m openly straight”, Backgrounding: “police officer”, “fire fighter” EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 33
- 34. Neologism
- 35. Wireflow
- 36. “Foster change by adapting the language. Hold a conversation to create a new language.” Paul Pangaro
- 37. “We are going agile…”
- 38. Fill in name of any large bank
- 39. Namahn Towards a language for transition… EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 39
- 40. © Namahn 2017 Foster conversation, using a systemic lens First, understand the current language of an organisation Bring people together in one room (people with different backgrounds) Use a systemic lens to find the connections between different parts of the system (including the different languages) EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 40
- 41. © Namahn 2017 Create a new language Mix different languages used in the organisation together, make new, unique combinations Look for metaphors that help establish new concepts But beware of misuse and manipulation EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 41
- 42. Namahn Thank you EuroIA 2018 Dublin - Language for Transition 42 kp@namahn.com - @2pk_koen
Editor's Notes
- Thanks for joining today. So “language for transition”, why this topic Let me give you a quote
- A Quote from Pangaro during a talk 2 years ago. This phrase really stuck with me.
- Conversations and language are the basis for all transactions and business An organisation must be able to create a new language in order to evolve or innovate Cf. Mechanism in large organisations: have shared, common language to work more efficiently. But this limits the ability to evolve, to innovate. Past language limits future vision. To regenerate, an organisation must create a new language.
- Take the well known example of Kodak Kodak was not able to create a new language and to innovate, eventhough they pioneered the industry and co-invented digital photography. They were stuck in the language and ideas of past successes, and couldn’t make the necessary switch/change in their branding and way of thinking. They thought their brand meant film, instead of higher ideals “preserving memories”
- A second trigger, We have been working on a systemic design methodology at Namahn. My colleague Kristel (leading the initiative) asked me to investigate the role of language in the systemic design process, especially in projects of transition.
- What role can language play in projects of transition, when you try to change and improve a system or organisation? How can you influence this process by carefully choosing the right language?
- Let’s have a closer look at this. While preparing this talk and investigating this subject, if there is one thing I've come to realise even more, than it's this:
- It shapes our perspective on society and the world. Language shapes the way we think.
- In the debate about migrants in Belgium, when they are forced to return to their country of origin, will you call this "repatriation", like the Belgian politicians currently in power do, or will you call it "deportation" like some other people do. But even in seemingly more trivial subjects, currently in the news, I’ve come to realise that language shapes our view on things...
- I was reading this interview with a Cronobiologist Roenneberg, who is strongly against daylight saving time, or summer time. In the interview he got irritated by what the interviewer was saying (words): “There is no summer time. This is propaganda language by lobbyists. It is summer and winter, and time is time. You can change clocks and watches, but not time! And you don't save light. The days don't become longer in the summer, thanks to so-called summer time. No, we get up earlier and go to bed earlier, that's all, and our health suffers from it… I wasn’t aware it is also really a language issue... To illustrate the influence of language, I would like to point to an author I discovered half a year ago
- Victor Klemperer, a Jewish linguist who miraculously survived World War II. He kept a detailed diary of what was happening in his life, during WWI and in the 20's, but also at the time of the rise and fall of the Nazi regime, which gives a fascinating insight in daily life for Jews during the Nazi regime. He always did this with a special interest in language. Shortly after the war, he published a book about the language of the Third Reich, LTI.
- His book explains meticulously how LTI works
- The nazis used a whole set of linguistic, manipulative techniques, mechanisms, to get their message through. Their LTI was poisonous for the minds. It changed the way people were thinking. Sometimes you think, how on earth could people go along with this crap. When you understand these mechanisms, you better understand how this could happen...
- As a sidenote, there was more into play than just the written and spoken language. The language came a long with a strong nazi visual language.
- The main lesson I take from Klemperer's LTI book is that you can never underestimate the power of language and words. The risk of misuse and manipulation is always there.
- By the way, this guy here... I’m showing him right after the nazis, so that’s a bit of framing. To me he is not a nazi. But he definitely uses a whole range of rhetorical linguistic devices, some are very similar to LTI: superlatives, hyperbole, binaries (them against us), repetition, the grammar... And the register is a crucial element: He uses conversational language, less formal and less complex than you would expect from a president, to distance himself from conventional politicians and make him sound like the common man.
- What are mechanisms you could use in your projects, not to manipulate, but in a positive way...
- (In a metaphor you refer to one thing by mentioning another thing, to identify (hidden) similarities between the two ideas or concepts.) We know since Lakoff that metaphors are crucial in our language, in our communication, in our way of thinking. Metaphors are everywhere.
- The reloadable battery metaphor. Ikea makes smart use of it.
- Or the military rhetoric around cancer Cf. In the world of business as well: strategies to conquer the market, we fight the competition, we have war rooms... You could deliberately step away from the dominant military metaphor to change the mindsets...
- BTW, a "metaphor designer" is a real job title now. Michael Erard used to work at the FrameWorks Institute as a metaphor designer. The company used the tagline "words that change minds“. They don't want to create pretty images (like poets do), they want to change the perception, to influence people in a specific way.
- An example of a metaphor we used in our projects, is the tree metaphor. The tree metaphor can help support a process of growth or change: a tree has roots and a solid trunk, it has branches, it grows, blossoms and bears fruit at certain moments, but does not always have to perform, not the whole year through…
- We used it in a project for the Flemish government, where they tried to improve integration (Integration pact). My colleagues used a tree metaphor throughout the project. Here you see trends, identified in the beginning of the project, as forces working around and on the tree in the middle.
- Then we created a common vision and image for the desired future.
- Here you can see us listing initiatives that already exist at the moment, that are already contributing to the future states/goals,
- A metaphor I use regularly in intranet design projects is the house (or hotel) of information.
- Originally the Knowledge management house, by Françoise Rossion. You present an organisation as a house or hotel: you describe the different interactions that a user can have with information as different rooms in the hotel.
- Here is our generic version of the house: with a library, team rooms and project rooms, a learning center, a lobby and coffee corner etc. With the house, you can also show that information is used for different knowledge needs: inform, inspire/learn, connect, or service. And you can illustrate how an employee goes from one room to another during a working day...
- We have our clients make their own version of the house during a workshop
- Another linguistic technique that you could use in your projects, is foregrounding and backgrounding
- Zerubavel in his book "Taken for granted" explains the notion of markedness vs. unmarkedness The word choices we make every day expose the ways we talk (and think) about race, gender , religion, sexual orientation, social status etc. When we mark something as being special or somehow noticeable, that which goes unmarked is assumed to be normal, ordinary by default.. By marking "male nurses" , we are also reinforcing the apparent normality of the idea that nurses are female. You can use this notion of marked versus unmarked in your projects, and explicitly go against conventions, and making a gestalt switch, by: Foregrounding: marking what was unmarked before (awareness rising). E.g. by saying your openly straight. Or the desktop computer and the home phone Backgrounding: the opposite, unmarking what was marked before - neutralizing, for instance a police officer, fire fighter, sales person
- Another technique is to invent new words. A good name to a new idea or concept, can help the idea to gain acceptance and spread in an organisation
- Let me take the example out of our practice, and a word Namahn invented a 6 years ago: Wireflow. It combines wireframes and flowchart/taskflows. We were starting to make these schemes in our projects. By giving it a name, it became something normal and evident, it became an explicit part of our methodology.
- So to come back to Pangaro, use these techniques to adapt the language in an organisation and to foster change. Hold a conversation to create a new language. But, there’s a danger here.
- Copying the words of a new language is not enough to actually accomplish innovation. How many companies do you have out there that adopted "Agile“?
- When you look closely, they have just copied the language In reality they are not working in an Agile manner at all... Cf. This LinkedIn post...
- So to summarize, here are my first ideas on language for transition: