Every organisation develops its own language.

Acronyms shorten long names. Systems acquire nicknames. Projects have codenames. Teams develop shorthand that makes perfect sense to the people who use it every day. Over time, it becomes so familiar that those speaking it don’t notice they're doing it.

Then somebody new arrives, and meetings that feels perfectly clear to everyone else can sound like a foreign language. One unfamiliar acronym follows another, with the uncomfortable assumption that everyone already understands. Asking once is easy, but asking for the tenth explanation can feel much more awkward.

Eventually, newcomers learn the language too. They become fluent, stop noticing it and unintentionally repeat the cycle with the next person who arrives.

Internal shorthand isn't necessarily a problem. It can make communication quicker and easier. The risk comes when fluency is mistaken for clarity.

Everyone may be speaking the same language, but that doesn't mean everyone understands it.