ThemeKnowledge & Systems
CardCard 21 of 66
Questions5 to explore

Glossary

Explaining internal jargon & technical language

Every organization invents its own language, and when people cannot decode it, they stop asking and start guessing.

Internal jargon grows naturally. Teams coin shorthand, products get nicknames, processes get acronyms, and before long a new person needs six months just to follow a meeting. A glossary is the antidote: one place that explains what words actually mean inside this organization.

The goal is not an exhaustive dictionary. It is a living list of the terms that cause the most confusion, the ones that mean different things to different teams, and the ones that carry context a newcomer cannot be expected to have. Short definitions beat comprehensive ones. If someone can read an entry and immediately use the term correctly, it is doing its job.

Ownership matters as much as content. Assigning a team or person to keep the glossary current prevents it from becoming the outdated document everyone knows exists but nobody trusts.

What to capture

For this part of the company brain, what is worth writing down and keeping current. The goal is not a complete archive but a living record that new people can read and returning people can trust.

Terms & acronyms

Any word, acronym, or shorthand that insiders use and outsiders (or new hires) would not immediately understand. Include the definition and, where useful, an example of how it is used in context.

Contested meanings

Terms that different teams or roles define differently, because those are the ones that cause the most friction. Note the official definition and flag where usage varies.

Product & system names

Names of internal tools, products, codenames, and platforms, especially ones that evolved from early nicknames and no longer resemble the official name.

Owner & update cadence

Who is responsible for keeping the glossary accurate, and how often it is reviewed. A glossary with no owner becomes stale within months.

Questions to explore

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

What words or acronyms do new team members consistently ask about in their first few weeks?
Are there terms that mean something different to the product team than to the sales team?
Which internal codenames or product nicknames have never been formally documented anywhere?
Who currently owns the glossary, and when was it last updated?
Which parts of the organization use specialized language that the rest of the company rarely encounters?

Things to notice

A glossary that lives in a document nobody links to is effectively invisible. Put it somewhere people naturally land when they are confused, not somewhere it gets filed away.
Definitions written by one team often encode that team's perspective. Terms used across multiple teams should be defined with input from each of them.
Treating the glossary as a one-time project guarantees it goes stale. Plan for regular reviews tied to product releases, reorgs, or onboarding cycles.