Written by: Vickie Sullivan | December 05, 2023
Good Ideas Used Badly: How to Call Out Misuse of Terms
“Setting boundaries.” People use that phrase when creating guidelines to protect themselves emotionally and mentally. Lately, however, people have begun misusing the term “boundaries” to justify controlling other people’s behavior.
A recent Washington Post article does an excellent job calling out the misuse of the term and explaining why it is wrong.
It’s understandable why people would manipulate the definition of the term. Humans want to do things without being judged. By using an accepted concept (in this case, boundaries), people can appear to be right while doing something wrong. This happens all the time in competitive environments when people are under pressure to perform.
As a thought leader, you can follow the same strategy as the Washington Post author and point out misuse of behavior in your content marketing. In doing so, you can be branded as a trusted source for navigating tricky situations.
2 Tactics for Calling Out Misuse of a Term
Here are two tactics from the article that you can apply when calling out the misuse of an idea or term:
• Focus on definitions: As a good idea gains traction, the definition can become so broad that the concept means different things to different people. Using the definition as context is an excellent prequel for your nuanced insights.
• Use on-the-ground examples: It’s tempting to offer high-level statements to prevent the guilty from leaving defensive comments on your post. Don’t. Instead, use everyday examples to show the difference between a term’s correct and incorrect use. These short vignettes are the emotional glue that makes your distinctions stick.
Listen: How to Call Out Misuse in Real Time
A lot of bad decisions get explained away by good intentions and a noble cause. Use discernment when questioning the latter, and you’ll be able to correct usage without diminishing the influence of a good idea.
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