Deferred Terminology

15 May 2012

Posted in Complexity Thinking

Oh, how we love discussions about terminology…

Is my course about management or leadership?

Are the problems we discuss complex or complicated?

Do the teams need coaches or mentors?

Should they have responsibility or accountability?

Are we being agile or lean?

The discussions about terminology go on and on. Yes, I’ve been guilty about this too. I love a good fight about a few letters, every now and then. 🙂

But does it matter?

After more than a decade we should know that we can make good progress in our work despite uncertainty, fuzzy boundaries, diverse opinions, and minimal definitions.

We can go on forever trying to find the “right” specifications for our most cherished words. But maybe we should stop splitting hairs over terminology and go and produce something.

Ah! But if we produce things… should we then aim for output or outcome?