Stop saying "interesting" at work. Here's why.

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Over the last few years at Google, there's a little game I like to play at work (besides Wordle).

And it's to cut out the word "interesting" from my vocabulary as much as I can.

Why? Because more often than not, it's a crutch for lazy thinking. It allows us to opine without truly having a point of view.

It allows us to talk about something – without actually saying anything.

For example, consider the following statement at work:

• "I just heard that Competitor XYZ has launched this new feature publicly, which is exactly one of the things we predicted last year. That's interesting right?"

It's definitely interesting – but until you can articulate why it's interesting, you're not really adding as much value as you think.

Because your statement is ambiguous, and you could be implying any of the following things:

• "They just launched this feature, which we predicted last year – this is extremely alarming, because we know that if this pattern continues, we'll lose the lead within the next 12 months..."
• "They just launched this feature, which we predicted last year... but ironically, this is actually reassuring, because it strengthens our original business case and might actually get leadership to move faster..."
• "They just launched this feature, which we predicted last year... but the user base is an order of magnitude higher than what we expected! That's extremely surprising, and implies that some of the assumptions in our model are completely wrong..."

In all these instances, your initial observation is interesting – but for very different reasons. And all of them come with different implications and next steps.

Because:

• If something is interesting because it's alarming? You're trying to convey a sense of urgency. Some action needs to be taken. You're trying to light a fire under people.
• If something is interesting because it's actually reassuring? You're probably operating with a bit more poise. Your audience is a bit more at ease. Your tone changes. The way you influence also changes.
• If something is interesting because it's surprising? You're calling for a moment of reflection. You're figuring out what you may have missed. You're looking to educate or reconcile.

Noticing that something is interesting isn't that useful. Anyone can do it. You have to actually connect the dots and articulate the "so what."

And when you force yourself to cut "interesting" out of your vocabulary? A few good things can happen:

• You become a sharper thinker. You're forced to articulate why something feels interesting, instead of going with gut feel. And like most things: until you can explain it to others, you don't truly understand it.
• You'll develop a bias towards action. Your mental model goes from "this is interesting" to "this is interesting, here are the implications, and thus this is what we should do." You add way more value as a result.
• You'll be less likely to get BS-ed by others. You'll start noticing when other people are using "interesting" as a way to deflect, obfuscate, or refuse to take a stand. Your BS alarm will go off and force you to scrutinize.

So if you're committed to doing dropping "interesting" from your vocabulary? Here are some new words to swap into your arsenal instead.

(It's not a long list. The point is not to become a human thesarus. It's to simply recognize that most "interesting" situations only fall into a few archetypes.)

These key archetypes are as follows:

• When something challenges your existing knowledge? Stop saying it's interesting. Instead, say that it's surprising, perplexing, unexpected, or even counterintuitive.
• When there is cause for concern and you want to inspire action? Stop saying it's interesting. Instead, say that it's alarming, troubling, or worrying.
• When you're trying to validate or bolster an existing view or hypothesis? Stop saying it's interesting. Instead, say that it's reassuring, comforting, or encouraging.

More often than not, when something feels "interesting" to you? You'll realize that you're dealing with one of these archetypes.

And if not? Congrats. You just became an even sharper thinker.

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