Theory, pedantic, patterns

Words are misused and abused. Or so it seems anyway. Its important to know the underlying meaning of words for you as well as the other person.

Take the word 'theory'. In the corporate world, in a disagreement, proposals are often labeled 'theoretical'. When I looked up the word in Wikipedia, I found the meaning to be:

• An analytic structure designed to explain a set of empirical observations
• Identification of this set of distinct observations as a class of phenomena
• Makes assertions about the underlying reality that brings about or affects this class.

This sounds good until we realize that theories are 'rigorously tentative', meaning, because they are abstract or conceptual, they can be neither right nor wrong. Therefore, in the corporate world, what we need are theorems:

• Theorems are derived deductively from theories according to a formal system of rules, generally as a first step in testing or applying the theory to concrete situations.

I suspect the word that needs to be used to object to an argument is 'pedantic' (pejorative use):

• Overly concerned with formalism and precision, or who makes a show of his learning.

The outcomes sought in executing strategy is 'clarity', 'shared clarity' and discovery of 'leading indicators'. Problem solving requires critical thinking and then influencing. It requires understanding patterns and acting on them. Lack of time and resources and other real/perceived pressures leads to impatience with communication gaps which in turn leads to loss of effectiveness.

So forget how you want to say it, focus on what the audience is looking for. Use their vocabulary and frames of reference. It does not mean you need to give up your beliefs or values, just change the way the point is made.