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Learn the language

The better you understand jargon and background of the different people you talk to, the better you can explain things and get on the same page when decisions must be taken.

Heidegger had a very specific jargon in his philosophy, introducing a lot of neologisms like Dasein and defining words to have a very specific meaning Uneigentlichkeit. By doing this Heidegger stresses the fact there has been too little attention in philosophy for certain topics (Sein),and at the same time our everyday language does not suffice to get close enough to the actual core of things.

In business this translates in learning to speak the language of the different people you talk to. This might differ significantly between the C-suite or middle management, between sales or IT, or between a developer and a project manager. The better you understand their jargon and background, the better you can explain things and get on the same page when decisions must be taken.

Just like a building or a software solution, a philosophical argument also has an architecture. You start by laying strong foundations to be able to solve the challenge you are facing. In a building these are the concrete pillars in the ground, in software this is the selection and setup of infrastructure, language and frameworks and in philosophy we have key concepts and axioms that you take as starting point.

Then you need different rooms in your building with different properties to provide the functions you are looking for: a kitchen, a bathroom, a sitting room, ... In software these are the different objects and design patterns. In philosophy you have different aspects of the argument, often addressing past theories and problems that predecessors raised around the philosophical question you are exploring.

In a building you have doors and hallways to go from one room to the other. In software you have interfaces and connections. And in philosophy you have key concepts to link the different aspects of your argument together. By defining these central terms in a very specific way, they allow you to pivot in different directions, creating new ways of looking at things and better questions to ask of your topic.

What other similarities or differences do you see? What are the key concepts that are very specific to your business?