Every team has several jargons. Some are derived from the industry. Some from the way customers communicate. Other jargons are used among members of a group (a team, a company, a chapter).
I have always been curious about how those special words have a complex meaning behind them. For example, it is sort of common sense among product practitioners the concept of an MVP or product discovery. From someone outside the tribe these words may sound non-sense.
However, these words are really important in daily practice. A lot of a product manager's work is about communication. Therefore, the right words can cut corners and keep documents and presentations concise yet complete.
Imagine if every time your team is doing product discovery you need to explain what it is and what its purpose is. Communication becomes way harder. There are a lot of concepts to grasp.
But jargons are also dangerous. If you take 3 product managers and ask them to define what an MVP you would probably get 3 slightly different answers. Depending on the context, those differences matter a lot. Something meant to communicate quickly becomes the root cause for disagreement.
With the years I became more curious about semantics. I am always interested on how a group understand concepts and the meaning implied in them.
Learning about semantics changed my approach to product management so much that I often coach other PMs to be obsessed about the jargons they use when communicating, adapting the words according to the audience or making concepts clear whenever needed.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, semantics is “the study of meanings in a language”.
Philosophically there is a distinction between the meaning and the social aspects that lead to that meaning. From the Plato portal:
Even if philosophers have not consistently kept these two questions separate, there clearly is a distinction between the questions “What is the meaning of this or that symbol (for a particular person or group)?” and “In virtue of what facts about that person or group does the symbol have that meaning?”
That is an important distinction we need to make with the words that are common sense in tech world. Although it is sort of obvious what is an MVP (minimum viable product) or PMF (product-market fit), the meanings those symbols carry are dependent on the facts and context of the interlocutor. How the meaning “came to be” may be as important as the meaning itself.
Therefore I urge everyone to take extra care on how words are used and the meanings behind them in each context. Adapt your speech to the audience. Be obsessed about the words you use. Naming is important, don't take it as secondary. Communication is a skill that product managers must develop to build great products.
Always be curious.