Why is Profanity So Effective?

As I have shared with many of you, I am self-diagnosed ADD.  I do think it is actually a good trait for a recruiter to possess as many of my colleagues seem to share this condition.  Perhaps in lieu of medication it is therapeutic being able to unload my observation through this medium. 

In fact it gives me great pleasure to share this general rant.  I get a kick out of the conversations where some of you just go completely transparent with YOUR story.  "The people I work with are effing idiots – I hate this effing place" – These are my kind of people – as a recruiter I have grown to love the transparent negativity of high caliber people that although they have deep convictions about why they should leave their company – for some reason they have not done anything about it yet.

It’s as if they have so much pent up rage they are glad I called because they just needed to tell someone.  For that, I thank you.  I love it.

So back to profanity and why it is so effective.  Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want to be berated with profanities.  "Eff you, Andy – don’t ever call me again you ahole!"  I don’t want to hear that.  I am talking about the use of profanity in the proper way. 

Here is my take:

People want to know where you stand – cussing clarifies.  People want to know how you feel – profanity is passionate.  Diversity in the workplace is integral in today’s corporate world – Terseness transcends, Damnit it does. 

I think conventional wisdom is that profanity shows the ignorance of the individual, a lack of vocabulary, a lack of thought – I say quite the contrary.  I think clarity trumps creativity and volatility is one up on vocabulary.

Look, profanity gets to the point.  You have my attention.  People want edgy, they want in your face, I think profanity ensures they listen.  It keeps them listening, it keeps them engaged in the presentation.  Can you imagine at the next shareholder’s meeting your CEO getting up and just going off on the good or bad results?  You would would leave there saying, "Damn, I can’t believe she said that.  She’s effing right, our business model does need reengineered" or "She’s effing right, we had a great year – we should be in awe of ourselves." 

Clearer messages delivered with brevity and shorter meetings all because of some calculated cussing.

Finally, I think F bombs and the like are therapeutic.  I recently just went off on a customer service rep that called me and I really just lost it. While I regretted being a little over the top – I felt good about it deep down.  In fact, rather than saying – "Sir, do not use that language with me" (repeatedly and in some nasal tone) – she actually paused and asked – "Why do you cuss so much?" – I actually said to her, "because it makes me feel good."  Point is she really didn’t mind and I think she was glad I felt better.  Now, that is customer service.