Tower of Babel: Learning the Languages of Business to Span Boundaries
A
large organization can sometimes feel like the United Nations. Finance
people talk about numbers and balance sheets. Marketing people talk
about branding and campaigns. Operations folks are discussing supply
chain management and cycle time, and IT executives are looking at new
systems and technologies, while the CEO is talking strategy. Like a
tower of Babel, this cacophony of different organizational languages
can lead to breakdowns in collaboration.
Managers stepping out of narrow functional roles — in marketing or technology, for example — have to learn other languages of business outside their native disciplines. "One of the most important things you can do when you are trying to communicate with someone and win them over is to speak their language," says Mario Moussa, academic co-director of Wharton’s Essentials of Management program. The weeklong program is designed to prepare managers for this challenge by offering knowledge in diverse areas of the business as well as the business vocabulary needed to foster collaboration.
If You Don’t Understand Me, You Must Be an Idiot
Not speaking in the vernacular of different departments can have repercussions for your career beyond poor collaboration. When you fail to understand the language of others, they may assume that it is due to stupidity or laziness. In psychology, this is called a "fundamental attribution error." For example, a human resources manager who is turned down by someone in finance might complain that the "bean counters" don’t really understand how the business works. "Because you can’t understand me, I attribute that to lack of intelligence," says Moussa.
This means that managers using the wrong terms not only fail to get their points across, but they also may lose respect from colleagues in the process. Like someone working in a foreign country who doesn’t learn the local language, this is a disadvantage.
Speaking C-Suite
Speaking the language of the CEO, and other senior leaders in the "C-suite," is particularly important, says Moussa. He recalls a typical discussion between researchers and the CEO of a major health system. The researchers and scientists talk about their research budgets without much regard to costs. They are focused on the next breakthrough. The CEO is pushing for a more balanced discussion of costs and revenue.
"The scientists can’t understand why the CEO is always talking about money. But if you don’t have the money you can’t work on the next breakthrough," Moussa says. "Finance, human resources, legal, operations all have to speak in terms that are most important to the C-suite. Our program is designed to get you used to speaking that language and packaging ideas in such a way that they get a hearing."
Walking in Another’s Moccasins
Learning a different language is part of a broader process. It involves seeing the world through another person’s eyes, or "perspective taking." This is an essential skill for collaboration and persuasion. As the Roman statesman Cicero said: "If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words."
Perspective taking is what makes Wharton’s Essentials of Management program distinctive, Moussa says. The program offers what has been described as a "mini-MBA," with an introduction to core knowledge in key business areas such as finance, human resources, strategy, marketing, negotiations, strategic thinking, and leadership.
Rather than serving up this information and vocabulary a la carte, faculty bring it together to cultivate a deeper understanding of the business and effective management. "You are getting knowledge from different areas, and we are knitting together the perspectives from each session. That is what makes this program unique," says Moussa, who is co-author of The Art of Woo and academic co-director of Wharton’s Strategic Persuasion Workshop: The Art and Science of Selling Ideas.
A World Without Babel Fish
In Douglas Adams's science fiction classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, interplanetary travelers use a "Babel fish" for translation. This is a small creature inserted into the ear that allows a listener instantly to understand any language among diverse alien races. Without such a creature, managers will have to develop their capability to understand their colleagues from different disciplines the old-fashioned way — through study.
Mastering the ability to speak in different business languages is well worth the time and effort, particularly for a manager making the leap to broader responsibilities. "You have to step out of your world and see the business from another’s point of view, work hard to develop an integrated or holistic point of view, and understand the leader’s point of view," Moussa says.
