How Language Shapes Behavior

My wife,Indu insists upon Hindi as the primary spoken language at home. I am kind of neutral on the subject so I take the easy way out with the kids. Though I did think it to be a good idea because there is research that shows bilingual children have advantages in general. What I did not realize, however, is that language actually helps children learn parental values better (assuming that you want to transfer your parental values to your children). That way they tend to experience culture, norms, and ethos rather than being told (and you know how effective that is). For example, respect for elders is an ingrained value among people from India. Hindi language by its very nature promotes that. Same way, strict adherents of Hindi language also promote certain eating habits, such as not wasting food on the plate. On the other hand, kids can also learn things that you may not want them to learn. I think it is all about the habit of the mind that we cultivate. For example, having been trained as a psychometrician it is hard for me not to think in terms of quantities. Everything exists in certain quantities and that changes how I perceive the world around me or cause and effect relationships.

Same thing should apply to businesses. Putting processes in place will force people to experience. They will know behaviors and results. Experiencing your own language or jargon has its value both in terms of ease of communication as well as insisting upon your vision or future.

Do you train your sales team to get the prospect to the "blank slate state" asap? What that means is the need to manage not being boxed into a preconceived idea about what your firm does.

Do you train your marketing team to "communicate for the sale". What that means is the need for marketing to be sales driven and nothing else matters.

Do you insist with your VP of Sales to not hire "Gurber Sales People". What that means is hiring sales people who do not go out of their comfort zone or too far from their mother slash network.

Right language will endear better behavior.

Take at look at this article and see how you may be able to apply it to your work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?_r=1