120 DELIVER THE EXPERIENCE
like. Isn’t it incredible [emotional]? It’s the world’s thinnest note-
book [simple]. It has a gorgeous 13.3-inch wide-screen display and
a phenomenal full-sized keyboard [emotional and concrete]. I’m
stunned our engineering team could pull this off [emotional].”^10
Table 10.3 lists even more examples of specific, concrete, and
emotional phrases from the Jobs repertoire of language. This
is just a small sample. Every Jobs presentation contains similar
language.Jack Welch made the observation, “Insecure managers create
complexity.” During his twenty years as GE’s top executive, the
conglomerate grew from $13 billion in revenue to $500 billion.
Welch was on a mission to “declutter” everything about the
company, from its management processes to its communica-
tion. He despised long, convoluted memos, meetings, and
presentations.
In his book Jack: Straight from the Gut, Welch describes
meetings that left him “underwhelmed.” If you wanted to
upset the new CEO, all you had to do was talk over his head.
Welch would say, “Let’s pretend we’re in high school... take
me through the basics.” He recounts his first meeting with one
of his insurance leaders. Welch asked some simple questions
about terms he was unfamiliar with. He writes, “So I inter-
rupted him to ask: ‘What’s the difference between facultative
and treaty insurance?’ After fumbling through a long answer
for several minutes, an answer I wasn’t getting, he finally
blurted out in exasperation, ‘How do you expect me to teach
you in five minutes what it has taken me twenty-five years to
learn!’ Needless to say, he didn’t last long.”^11
Speaking in jargon carries penalties in a society that values
speech free from esoteric, incomprehensible bullshit. Speaking
over people’s heads may cost you a job or prevent you from
advancing as far as your capabilities might take you otherwise.Jargon: A Sure Way to Upset Jack Welch