😒 Doesn’t resonate with cooperative and supportive people

Language that emphasizes competitive, self-centered or uncaring characteristics builds a culture that does not encourage cooperation, innovation nor inclusion within an organization. Many of us have unconsciously learnt that such language is necessary in business in order to be successful and credible. But unfortunately, the opposite is true. Such language builds competitive environments and makes many people feel that they cannot belong. It builds an environment that is exclusive and kills a creative mindset.

In today's diverse and global business world, language must express a culture of cooperation, passion, and mutual respect. That's how people can thrive and realize their full potential (especially women and generation Z are socialized to cooperation and mutual support) - innovation happens more easily in such environments. 

In short: Use cooperative, team-oriented wording or refer to the purpose of your organization.

😒 Don't use colors to describe good or bad

We use colors every day to describe the world around us. This works great for things and their actual colors. It’s when we use colors to refer to ideas attached to colors, where using color words can become hurtful. Using color words for skin is one of the tools of the discrimination based on skin color, or skin tone in colorism and shadism. Color words as a way to describe ideas can be highly offensive to the people around you who live with racialized identities.

😒 Enforces the heteronormative view of gender identity

Outdated and perhaps even discriminatory understanding of gender that pigeonholes LGBTQIA+ people. 

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person was female or male?"

😒 Expression of a belief system not universally shared

Wording pigeonholing people of a certain belief or unconsciously expressing one belief as the standard; thereby devaluing other beliefs. 

What can you do?
Rephrase with words that do not transport any idea of belief or religion.

😒 Feeds bias against people with a migration background

Difficult to understand for people with a migration background, as they may not understand certain idioms or bureaucratic language. Or it is a sweeping generalisation and traps people in outdated stereotypes. Rephrase with a simpler choice of words and short sentence. 

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person was of the dominant national background?"

😒 Frames authentic behavior as undesirable and other

Sometimes a behavior of a person is considered as "other" according to a stereotypical view by the society, meaning the society's behavior is "normal" and this person's not. But this thinking is outdated. «The research of "Neurodiversity" describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one "right" way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits», as described in this article of Harvard Health. 

😒 Fuels outdated ideas about the ability to hear

Outdated, hidden or even discriminatory wording pigeonholing people with hearing impairment.

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person had their full hearing capacity?"

😒 Fuels outdated ideas about the ability to learn

Learning ability and outcomes

We are taught to trust school grades as representative of two things: the effort we put in and our natural capacity to learn. But grades are the results of many more factors. These factors includes negative stereotypes, outdated teaching methods, and learners' socio-economic situation.

😒 Fuels preconceived notions about cognitive ability

Cognitive ability can be reduced due to several reasons:

• age 
• genetic defect (like Down Syndrome)
• education level
• brain injury
• exposure to pesticides or toxins
• physical inactivity
• chronic conditions such as Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer
• and others

Society has found many terms to describe the different cognitive disabilities. Many of them have a negative connotation and are used randomly. The people affected by such disabilities keep being pigeonholed in those outdated stereotypes. 

Michael J. Fox is a world-known actor (if you don't know him, please watch "Back to the Future") who was diagnosed with Parkinson at age 29. He stopped working as an actor in 2000 and founded the Michael J. Fox foundation for Parkinson's research

At age 51, he decided to return to full-time acting. 

Why do we tell you all this? People with cognitive disabilities should not be put into pigeonholes. Each one of them has skills, talents and preferences. We owe them respect and support. Also in our language. 

😒 Fuels preconceived notions about cognitive perception

Cognitive perception

We all experience the world through our senses - seeing, listening, smelling, tasting, and feeling. This is called cognitive perception. Another aspect of cognitive perception is how we deal with the information we receive from senses. Our individual cognitive perception influences how we respond to people, assess risks, and behave in different settings. We use our personal experiences and our ideas of what is "normal" to assess the responses and behaviors of others. But we all experience the world differently. Making judgements about people who do not perceive the world the same way we do, can have serious social ramifications for the person we judge. Labelling someone as "not normal" and questioning their ability to perceive reality "correctly" can make them vulnerable to marginalization, stigmatization, and bullying.

Avoid using words related to sanity and mental illness to describe people or situations. Try to give context instead, and focus on describing actions and impact. This way, you communicate more inclusively, show respect, and people will better understand what you're saying.

😔 The event planner? They're insane.
🤗 The event planner? They're suggestions are too expensive, not to mention impractical.

😔 We had a cray cray weekend
🤗 We had an unexpectedly busy weekend.

😒 Implies cultural background sets the value of a person

Is a sweeping generalisation and traps people in outdated stereotypes. 

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person was of the dominant national background?"

😒 Implies socioeconomic status sets the value of a person

Try to imagine a reader lower in hierarchy or socio-economic level than yourself: How would you feel when re-reading your own words?

For many people, this formulation implicitly communicates a feeling of condescension. It is associated with a power imbalance and can be perceived as "a top down" mindset. It may or may not also express a sense of social class difference. In short, readers unconsciously realize that the text is not at their eye level. And thus excludes them from the conversation. 

In many situations, we are not aware of our own position and privilege that comes with it. We might have privilege due to our socio-economic background (education was always paid for, the parents never had to worry at the end of the month) or due to our position in a company (faster access to information, being taken more seriously due to seniority). These privileges do influence how we formulate our sentences. Daniel Kahnemann, one of the founders of behavioral economics, once realized that he inadvertently uses different tone of voice in emails when he writes to other professors or to his assistant. The first was at eye level while the second was almost bossy.

When writing, try to be aware of that "classism" bias that happens to all of us. Ask yourself: "Would I write it the same way with an addressee that has the same position as I?"

🤔 Is age relevant to your message?

Asking for people's age puts them in a sensible spot and may provoke stereotype threat. 

What can you do?
Maybe you do not need to know their age?

😒 Promotes a heterosexual value system and roles

Outdated and perhaps even discriminatory understanding of sexual orientation that pigeonholes LGBTQIA+ people and transporting heterosexuality as the norm. 

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person was heterosexual?"

🪖 Reframes the business landscape as a theater of war

Military-inspired lingo

A military-inspired lingo is part of business communications in many organisations. While many terms favored in business are more inspired by movies about war than the reality of military life, this jargon is associated with a historically almost exclusively masculine environment. As such, it perpetuates a culture of masculinity that subtly prevents women from joining conversations in the workplace. Studies show we have different expectations for how men and women should communicate. Women who adopt more aggressive masculine speech patterns, such as military jargon, are perceived less favorably by their colleagues than women who conform to feminine speech patterns. Moreover, many people do not feel comfortable with the aggressive undertones of military lingo, regardless of gender.

😒 Repeats ableist stereotypes about health, illness, and wellbeing

Outdated, hidden or even discriminatory wording pigeonholing people with a medical condition. 

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person was fully healthy?"

😒 Repeats outdated ideas about mental health and wellbeing

Mental health and well-being

Using words related to mental health casually and with negative connotations can be hurtful and distressing to people who are invested in managing their mental wellbeing and people living with an invisible disability. Treating mental health as a joke, metaphor, or euphemism and making assumptions about what it’s like to experience mental health problems enables others to internalize mental health stigma.

Avoid using mental health terms casually and trivializing the difficulties people who work on their mental health experience face. Explore descriptive words instead.

😔 Mason is so OCD when it comes to filing.
🤗 Mason is perfectionist when it come to filing.

😒 Repeats preconceived ideas about motion or movement skills

Outdated, hidden or even discriminatory wording pigeonholing people with a mobility impairment. 

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person was in full capacity of all their limbs?"

😒 Repeats preconceived notions about the ability to see

Outdated, hidden or even discriminatory wording pigeonholing people with visual disabilities.

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person had full visibility?"

😒 Repeats preconceived notions about the ability to speak

Speech and language-related disabilities

Terms describing non-speaking people or people living with speech and language-related disabilities are often closely linked to negative stereotypes and misguided assumptions. People with speech and language-related disabilities are assumed to be struggling because they're "insecure" or "nervous" or interpreted as showing mental limitations or a lack of thinking ability. Related terms are often used figuratively to describe something as "different" or "limited in function."

😒 Reveals and feeds biases against disabilities

Communicates exclusion by stating that a person's abilities are outside of an assumed definition of "normal". 

What can you do?
Rephrase in a way that talks about the person's ability without implying otherness or disability.

😒 Reveals and feeds biases against people aged 50+

Outdated hidden or even discriminatory wording pigeonholing people 50 years or older. 

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person was 35 years old?"

😒 Reveals and feeds biases against people under 25

Outdated hidden or even discriminatory wording pigeonholing people 25 years or younger. 

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person was 45 years old?"

🏅 Shuts out people not into this sport; overemphasizes competitiveness

Sports metaphors

Metaphors taken from the world of sports have become a mainstay of business communication, especially in messages aiming to motivate. Framing business interactions as a sport often overemphasizes their competitive aspects. While this communication style may resonate with people who share your love of the game, others may feel you're trivializing the complexity of doing business, or feel you don't value more collaborative mindsets.

Apart from the competitive aspect, there are gender biases to consider. Many of the sports referenced in business environments are traditionally male-dominated. Using sports terms can subtly signal a preference for a business world where people who identify as female have no place.

Last not least, when using terms related to a specific sport only those familiar with that exact sport will get your point.

Use commonly used and well-understood words and metaphors to get your message across in a way that connects with everyone. You can use broad sports metaphors that convey fairness, playful creativity, and the fun of working together.

😔 Purchasing is throwing us a curveball. We've reached a point in our negotiations where the boss has to step up to the plate.
🤗 Purchasing is demanding greater concessions than we can make. We've reached a point in our negotiations where management has to take over.

😒 Suggests racist undertones

Outdated and perhaps even discriminatory pigeonholing a particular ethnic background. 

What can you do?
Ask yourself "What would I write if this person belonged to the dominant ethnic background in my society?"