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Words that should be banned forever

  • February 19, 2022
  • 5 replies
  • 79 views

Henrik Ståhl
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I wrote this story on Medium titled “5 IT Management Words That Should Be Banned Forever.” In essence, it’s about the kind of impact the use of some common management words might have on an organization in general and the agility of product development teams in particular.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Are there any words you refrain from using? Or words you try to use extra often because it helps enable a certain mindset?

5 replies

Robert Johnson
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  • Volunteer Community Moderator
  • 7716 replies
  • February 20, 2022

@Henrik Ståhl - Great article - thanks for sharing!

While I agree with the misuse of all five words, as a business analyst, “Requirement” bothers me the most. It sounds so robotic.

Instead, I like to start the conversation with, “what problem are you trying to solve?” From there, each pain point//need should include a specific example of the current state, an even that will occur, and what the desired outcome would be.


Henrik Ståhl
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  • Author
  • Miro Hero
  • 739 replies
  • February 21, 2022

Thanks @Robert Johnson, I’m glad you liked the article! You sound like my type of business analyst. :wink: “Requirement” sounds really robotic and absolute. And nothing in software development is absolute.

 


Alexis Luscutoff
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  • Experienced Community Member
  • 58 replies
  • February 22, 2022

Love outcome over output and people with certain expertise/skills over resources. Well said, @Henrik Ståhl


Henrik Ståhl
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  • Author
  • Miro Hero
  • 739 replies
  • February 22, 2022

Thank you @Alexis Luscutoff! “Resources” is one of the worst words on the list. Such a callous and unsympathetic way to refer to people.


Season
  • New Here
  • 1 reply
  • February 24, 2022

I absolutely love and agree with banning the word resources when referring to people! I wrote about it a couple months ago: https://awkwardagile.com/people-vs-resources/