„‚ CONDITIONS THAT HINDER EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

eflect our commitment to helping individuals and organizations work in mutually
beneficial ways. Then we add to the existence of HRD as a discipline by mustering other
phenomena into the category that our jargon has provided. Thus, quality-of-work-life
programs and management development are incorporated into organizational budgets
and executive-meeting agendas.
By borrowing from other, more established sciences, we lend credibility to our
jargon (Hardaway, 1976). For example, the “resource” focus of HRD adds an air of
technology not found in “human potential development.” Similarly, calling an old
experience by a new name casts it in a new light. “Self-disclosure” and “active
listening” thus become discrete skills that can be taught rather than personal
communication styles.
Efficiency
Jargon packs large quantities of information into small spaces (Billow, 1977). Without
jargon, a trainer’s manual might instruct the trainer to “divide participants into two
groups, each group forming a circle, one inside the other, allowing the participants in the
outer circle to observe those in the inner circle while the latter participate in a brief
structured experience.” The same manual might instruct the trainer to “have the
participants assemble into a ‘fishbowl’ configuration.” 1
Jargon is more concise, combining two or more apparently unrelated phenomena to
create a new concept (Billow, 1977). Integrated into this new terminology is a wealth of
concrete, cognitive, and emotional data, making jargon a more potent tool than more
formal English (Billow, 1977). The term “fishbowl” again serves as a good example.
Concentrated into this one word is the representation of a commonplace object that
everyone recognizes, the physical setup that it implies, an experiential-training
technique, and the emotional overtones that accompany the experience of being
observed. Clearly, the conceptual synergy created by using jargon is not as easily
accomplished by using more formal English.
Memory
Jargon also aids memory by providing a verbal “index card” for more efficient retrieval
(Fuld & Buschke, 1976). When jargon is included in a phrase, the phrase is more
quickly recalled (Begg, 1972).
As stated before, jargon is metaphor, and it is the likeness between two concepts
that promotes recall (Tatum, 1976). This conceptual interaction deeply links the new
information or experience represented by the jargon to the listener’s existing conceptual
models (Begg, 1972; Billow, 1977). For instance, the term “laboratory education”
evokes an image of “hands-on” experience as well as experimentation. This type of
conceptual interaction also helps to “cross reference” the information included in the
jargon terminology, thereby aiding in integration and generalization of learnings. After
1
Another jargon term for “fishbowl” is “group-on-group configuration.”
88 ❘❚
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 6, 2nd Edition. Copyright © 1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer