An organization is its language. Large organisations will often create a common language to work more efficiently together, but such a common language can limit the organisation’s future vision. An organisation’s ability to change, evolve and innovate depends on its ability to change its language. Starting from this provocative idea (from Pangaro and Dubberly), this talk explores what could be such a language for transition. First, I will demonstrate how language is everywhere in our work as designers and information architects, from creating taxonomies and choosing labels, to designing voice UIs and facilitating conversations… Then we will look more specifically into the importance of language in projects of transition: What role can language play when you try to change and improve a system or organisation? And how can you influence this process of transition by carefully choosing the right language? By looking at examples from the real world, Victor Klemperer’s analysis of the language of the Third Reich (“LTI”), and Trump’s smart use of rhetorical linguistic devices, we learn how language really shapes the way we think, shapes our perspective on society and the world. I will present some linguistic techniques you can apply in your projects of transition, such as metaphors, foregrounding/backgrounding, coming up with neologisms, using noun versus verb phrases… and I will illustrate these with examples taken from projects I have worked on. To conclude, I will link my linguistic research to the systemic design toolkit we have developed recently. The tools in this toolkit are workshop tools, tools for conversation, and they allow us to zoom out to and design on a system level (versus interactions or service level). This “systemic lens” is indispensable when you want to intervene in a system or organisation, when you want to design for transition.

1. Namahn
Language for Transition
Koen Peters, #IAC20
kp@namahn.com - @2pk_koen
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2. Namahn
Inspiration for this talk
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Paul Pangaro Victor Klemperer Kristel Van Ael

3. “An organization is its language.”
Notes on the Role of Leadership and Language in Regenerating organizations
Paul Pangaro

4. Namahn
Importance of language
“An organization consists of conversations.”
“An organization’s language is the basis for all
transactions, for all business. (…) Language affects,
even constitutes the ways people perceive their reality.”
“An organization’s ability to create a (new) language is
synonymous with it’s ability to evolve.”
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6. “ Innovation Intelligenc e” ( 2015)

7. LTI (Lingua Tertii Imperii)
Victor Klemperer

8. Namahn
Namahn
Systemic design toolkit &
methodology
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Systems
thinking infused
with design
thinking
Design thinking
infused with systems
thinking
https://www.systemicdesigntoolkit.org/

9. Namahn
Namahn
Three lenses: designing…
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INTERACTION
S
SERVICES SYSTEMS

10. What role can language play
in projects of transition?

11. Namahn
Structure of my talk
 The importance of language in design
 The role of language when you are transforming an organisation or system
 Mechanisms in language
 Towards a language for transition
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12. Namahn
Language in today’s world of design(ers)…
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13. Our work as information architects

15. Thinking in words vs. images

16. What are her language skills?
Can she write?
Can she present?
…
Can she moderate a
conversation?

17. “Designing conversations is
at the heart of 21st century design”
Paul Pangaro

18. Namahn
Language and transformation…
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19. George Orwell Aldous Huxley

20. Language shapes our perspective
on society and the world

21. Words are never neutral, always coloured!

22. “Repatriation” vs. “deportation”

23. “Daylight saving time”

24. Framing

25. Namahn
Framing in American politics
“Simply changing the language
changes the interpretation.”
(Business insider)
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26. Words can disguise, mask meaning,
or they can dramatize, amplify…

27. LTI (Lingua Tertii Imperii)
Victor Klemperer

28. Namahn
Characteristics of LTI:
 Regulated and repeated
 Simplified, one-sided, one-dimensional, narrow
 No difference between spoken and written language
(you can only shout it)
 Neologisms: aufnorden, Blitzkrieg, Endsieg…
Prefixes: Volkswagen, Volksgemeinschaft, Weltanschauung
 Euphemisms: Sonderbehandlung, Krise, Evakuierung
 Abbreviations: SS, KZ, …
 Metaphors: connotations to military world, sports, machines, religion…
 Hyperbole: Thousand-Year Reich, eternal empire…
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29. LTI was (is) poisonous for the mind

31. Never underestimate the power of language…

32. Namahn
Trump’s rhetorical linguistic techniques
 Superlatives and hyperbole: “yuuuuge”,
“tremendous”, “incredible”, “phenomenally”…
 Binaries: criminal aliens vs. hard-working Americans
 Repetition: “That’s wrong. They were wrong. It’s the
NYT, they’re always wrong…”
 New words: “fake news”…
 Grammar: short and simple sentences, verb-heavy
rather than noun-heavy
 Register: casual, private talk, used in public, formal
circumstances: “you know”
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33. Namahn
Mechanisms in language
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34. Metaphors

35. Reloadable battery metaphor

36. Military rhetoric

38. Tree metaphor

42. House (hotel) of information

43. by Françoise Rossion

46. Neologism

47. Wireflow

48. “Constructive” words

49. “Prejudice vs. racism”

50. “Sustainable vs. regenerative”
Sc huyler Brown

51. Foregrounding – backgrounding

52. Namahn
Markedness vs. unmarkedness
Zerubavel: “The word choices we make (every day without
even realizing it) expose the subtly encoded ways we talk
about race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, social status
etc.”
Examples: male nurses, working mom…
Techniques:
 Foregrounding: “home phone”, “I’m openly straight”,
 Backgrounding: “police officer”, “fire fighter”
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53. Nouns vs. verbs

54. Namahn
Nouns vs. verbs in matters of conflict
Psychological effects of different grammatical structures
(research by Reifen-Tagar and Idan)
The “calming” effect of nouns: a good way to use language to reduce
tension is to rely, whenever possible, on nouns rather than verbs.
 E.g. “I am in favour of the removal of settlers/removing settlers
But… verbs are more actionable than nouns!
Thinking in terms of doing/processes, rather than in terms of objects/being
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55. “Foster change by adapting the language.
Hold a conversation to create a new language.”
Paul Pangaro

56. “We are going agile…”

57. Namahn
Towards a language for transition…
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58. Namahn
Foster conversation, using a systemic lens
 First, understand the current language of an organisation: terminology, -
abbreviations, metaphors, culture, habits... and limits.
 Bring people together in one room (people with different backgrounds,
with their own language and jargon) and start conversations
 Use a systemic lens to find the connections between different parts of the
system (including the different languages)
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59. Namahn
Create a new language
 Mix different languages used in the organisation together, make new, unique
combinations
 Create new words
 Look for metaphors and “constructive” language to establish new concepts
 For your interventions in the system, use verbs (active) rather than nouns (static)
 But beware of misuse and manipulation
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60. Namahn
Thank you
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kp@namahn.com - @2pk_koen