Hi HN,<p>I was wondering: whenever I (a developer) have had meetings with "business people" in my company, it seemed like they were speaking a completely different language. Yes it was English, but words like "business proposition", "value add", etc. always made it hard to follow.<p>Although I've managed to follow along and participate in these discussions I often feel like the alien in the room.<p>I'm curious. Why is this? Who teaches the secret language of business. All kidding aside: are there any books, youtube videos, etc. that I can read to get better at this?<p>Many thanks!
I'm an engineer who worked as a business analyst for a decade.<p>Most of those terms are important sounding jargon signifying nothing (sorry for the Hamlet-like quote).<p>There are stack of books in the "business" section of any library or bookshop. But I wouldn't waste my time and money on them.<p>Just focus on the important details, such as how the topic of conversation impacts upon revenue, profit, cost-savings, customer behaviour, staff motivation, etc. If the conversation gets too murky for you, ask questions to clarify the relevance to any of the above areas.<p>Don't blame me if you get un-invited to meetings after asking such questions. The 80-20 rule applies -- 80% of biznoids are flapping like crazy to look important and valuable.
Every professional domain has a vocabulary. You can ask the person who said something you didn't understand a question when you don't understand something.