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Traditional language patterns may not be adaptable to the needs of contemporary organizations. Past language patterns that are built on hierarchical or command and control concepts, do not necessarily provide patterns of communication and collaboration that encourage contemporary knowledge workers. Yet, there is insufficient academic research on language patterns that are supportive of these emerging organizational needs.
The purpose of this research was to explore and capture the nature of language patterns. Specifically, the research questions addressed: are there unique language patterns being created in contemporary organizations that positively impact the way people work together and if so, what similarities or differences exist in these language patterns. A phenomenological research approach was used to analyze data from multiple sources: ideas on the nature of how humans think based on cultural and historical perspectives, events supporting the importance of language patterns as generated at a recent conference by authorities in the field, people telling their stories through interviews as they experience the phenomenon, and bricoleur demonstrating the ability of this researcher, as a participant observer and scholar practitioner, to logically assemble the building blocks of knowledge.
Exploratory research of language patterns identified these important descriptive categories, or nodes: humility, appreciative, provoking, empathetic, reframe, inclusive, differentiate, evaluative, sustainable, generative, holistic, cooperative, and social change. Analysis revealed meaningful similarities of these nodes among the data sources. These specific nodes were found supportive of contemporary organizational initiatives, and results from interviews demonstrated these unique language patterns reinforced the development of an organizational voice.
From a social change perspective, organizations looking at deploying change initiatives may want to determine their organizational voice to see if the language patterns match the key nodes discovered important in this research. By discovering their organizational voice, leaders can inspire individuals, encourage groups of people to work more effectively together, and support the achievement of organizational goals that foster positive social change.