Why does it seem that people want to exacerbate the learning process, or any situation, by using big or industry specific words or jargon?
OBFUSCATION!
A number of years ago I attended a worship conference where right from the start I was lost. At the start of the seminar it became very apparent to me that I was going to have a hard time tracking with the material. Almost immediately the presenter started talking in jargon that I did not understand. He was saying things like when you are in the “red zone” you should….. And when you hit blue you should….. At first when he mentioned the red zone, I thought he was going to give a football analogy, but no that was not at all where he was headed. After an hour and a half of feeling totally lost, the first break of the day finally arrived.
At the break I decided that I would ask the presenter to clarify and hopefully help me understand some of what he was talking about. When I asked him my first question, “what is the red zone?' he gave me a very puzzled look back. He started to explain and then abruptly stopped and said didn't you read the book on worship planning that this seminar is based on? My response was what book??? It turned out that while the seminar promotional literature talked all about learning these new techniques, it never mentioned that it would be a good idea to read the book BEFORE attending.
Needless to say, I struggled through the first day and then stayed up most of the night reading the book. The second day was much better, but maybe it's just me, or maybe because I was behind the curve, the weekend felt like a big waste.
ESOTERIC!
A good friend of mine shared with me another example of obfuscation that led to frustration. Back in the day (when everything was analog and amplifiers weighed 95lbs) my friend was hired to do monitor mix for a well known and “revered” Jazz musician and his band. During sound check my friend dutifully dialed in the monitors and then did his normal routine of walking on stage and listening to each musicians monitor. He would then as each member of the band if their personal mix was what they were looking for. Each member of the band gave him thumbs up.
When he came to the leader of the band, you know “the revered one”, things were not as smooth. “The revered one” was not happy, so my friend began asking him questions. My friend figured that this seasoned veteran must be well versed in audio speak so, he started asking questions like; “is it too hot at 2K?” “The revered one” just gave him a blank stare and then after an overly pregnant pause said, “Come on now, speak my language”. My friend replied, “Okay, are the highs to bright?” “The revered one” now becoming just a little annoyed, remaind professional and his tone was still nice, but signs of his frustration were starting to show. With a hint of that frustration in his voice, he said “look man the monitor sounds a bit purple, fix it!”
It was now my friends turn to adorn the blank stare look. After an awkward three to five seconds of silence, my friend dropped his head turned and walked back to the monitor console pondering what the heck purple meant. As my friend climbed back into his custom black leather captains' chairs that placed him at the perfect height to become the maestro of the monitor mix his mind was swirling with colorful thoughts. At the front of his mind was the question “What does purple mean?” As he stared at the console hoping for a revelation, out of the blue it hit him. Purple is a deep color, rich and full, dark but not overly dark. Ah Ha! Remove some 350 Hz out of the out of the entire mix; take a little more of the same out of the bass guitar, and just a touch of the same out of the snare.
As quick as his mind came up with the solution, his hands went into action implementing it. As he gazed up from the console his eye caught the eye of “the revered one” and he saw a hint of a smile breaking at the corner of “the revered ones” mouth. My friend eased back into his captains' chair and took a deep breath, just then the song the band was rehearsing arrived at its closing note. What he heard next brought a hint of a smile to his face as “the revered one” said,“You found the purple man!, you found the purple! Now my day is bright!”
As my friend smiled at “the revered one”, he had to shake his head and say to himself, “it's a good thing I figured out how to interpret “colorful language”. At that, a language that was not at all like some of the “colorful language” that he had experienced from other, less classy and less skilled artists.
For some reason both of these stories made me think of Habit #5 of Stephen Covey's classic book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People…… Seek first to understand, then to be understood. For me an understanding of the pre requisite reading for the “red zone” seminar would have made it a much better event for me. For my friend, understanding what “purple” meant was the difference between hearing accolades or the kind of “colorful language” he never likes to hear..
