If you’ve ever sat in a meeting and felt the conversation was happening just above your head, you’re not alone. In fact, many business leaders report feeling disempowered when discussions veer into technical territory—where acronyms multiply and clarity disappears.
This isn’t just frustrating—it’s strategically risky. When language becomes a barrier instead of a bridge, leaders lose sight of what technology is truly supposed to do: create value.
Why It Matters in Business: Miscommunication = Misalignment
Symptoms of a Bigger Problem
- Projects that stall or overrun because expectations weren’t aligned.
- Teams who resist using new tools because they weren’t part of the conversation.
- Leadership teams unable to connect the dots between tech spend and business outcomes.
At its core, the issue is not technology—it’s translation.
The Jargon Effect: When Complexity Erodes Confidence
Technical language is often used to ensure precision. But when it becomes excessive or exclusive, it disrupts collaboration and defers decision-making power to specialists.
Common Challenges
- Leaders nodding along in meetings to avoid looking uninformed.
- Overreliance on third-party vendors, who hold the technical knowledge and, therefore, the leverage.
- Misinterpreted metrics and dashboards that look good but don’t tie back to core business KPIs.
- Low tool adoption rates because employees don’t understand the purpose behind the platform.
Jargon, in these cases, acts as a moat—protecting ideas from being challenged, even when they should be.
Reframing Control: Language as Strategy
As a business leader, you don’t need to code—but you do need to ask smart questions, interpret strategic value, and align technology with your vision.
Consider This Shift in Approach
- From “What does this system do?” → To “How does this system support our business objective?”
- From “What’s the SLA uptime guarantee?” → To “What’s the operational risk if this goes down?”
- From “It’s an AI-enhanced analytics suite” → To “What decisions will this help us make faster or better?”
Clarity isn’t about simplification—it’s about relevance.
If a technology partner can’t explain the value in your language, it may not be the right fit.
How to Regain Control as a Business Leader
Here’s how you can take back control without needing to be a technologist:
1. Set the Communication Standard
Make it clear: everyone in the room should understand what’s being discussed. Encourage explanations in plain business terms.
2. Bridge the Gap with Translators
If your internal team speaks fluent tech, assign someone to act as the interpreter between strategy and systems. It’s a skill set worth investing in.
3. Tie Every Tech Initiative to a Business Metric
Ask: “What does success look like?” If the answer doesn’t include metrics tied to efficiency, growth, risk mitigation, or cost control, press further.
4. Foster Psychological Safety
Leaders shouldn’t feel ashamed to ask, “Can you say that a different way?” In fact, asking questions is often the most strategic move in the room.
Outcomes: What You Can Expect When Clarity Is the Norm
When organizations move away from jargon-heavy environments, the benefits are immediate and long-lasting.
Tangible Gains
- Improved project outcomes through better scoping and stakeholder alignment.
- From “What does this system do?” → To “How does this system support our business objective?”
- From “What’s the SLA uptime guarantee?” → To “What’s the operational risk if this goes down?”
- From “It’s an AI-enhanced analytics suite” → To “What decisions will this help us make faster or better?”
- Faster time to value for new tech investments.
- Reduced dependency on external consultants for basic understanding.
Intangible Shifts
- Increased confidence in tech-related decision-making at all levels.
- Stronger cross-functional collaboration, especially between technical and business teams.
- A workplace culture that values insight over intimidation.
Conclusion: It’s Not About Knowing the Code—It’s About Knowing What It Means
The original question—“Who’s really in control?”—isn’t rhetorical. If you feel at the mercy of technical language, the answer might be: not you.
But it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Modern leadership is less about mastering every tool, and more about asking the right questions, fostering transparent conversations, and prioritizing clarity over complexity. Technology should serve your business—not obscure it.
And when everyone at the table understands what’s being discussed, that’s when you know you’re in control.
