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In Praise of Simplicity or The Power of Plain Language in a Buzzword World

There’s a moment I experience all too often in tech meetings, presentations, or vendor demos where someone starts talking, and instead of clarity, I get hit with a tidal wave of jargon: “synergizing AI-driven orchestration pipelines for real-time actionable insights using cloud-native microservices and agentic AI to serve as a digital twin.” And somewhere in that flood, I find myself asking the most important question: But what does it actually do and do they really know what they’re even talking about?

I’ve learned to trust that instinct. When I hear a string of buzzwords with no functional explanation behind them, a red flag goes up. I don’t need hand-waving or keyword bingo, what I really need is understanding. I’ve realized over the years that if someone truly understands a concept, they can explain it in layman’s terms. No marketing spin, no acronyms piled on acronyms and use simple words that can be comprehended by just about anyone.

Please understand, this isn’t about dumbing things down. It’s about cutting through noise to get to value. You can be an expert, hell, you can be THE expert and still explain something simply. In fact, that’s often what I find to be the mark of someone who has real depth in their craft. I don’t admire the person who walks into the room and tries to sound like the smartest person there. I admire the one who makes everyone in the room smarter just by the way they explain something.

It’s not a lack of intelligence that makes people bristle at jargon; it’s the fatigue of having seen it used as a smokescreen too many times. As someone who’s spent a career in technical roles, no matter if it was from databases and DevOps to AI and analytics, I’ve come to appreciate those who skip the theater and show me the mechanism. Tell me how it works. Walk me through the problem and the solution. Use real-world comparisons, analogies, and plain English. That’s how things click and that’s where real breakthroughs happen.

Of course, buzzwords have their place. We use shorthand to communicate within our circles: “CI/CD,” “zero trust,” “data lakehouse” but these terms only have value when it leads to real understanding, not confusion. The moment the room tilts toward proving how much we know rather than ensuring others understand, we’ve lost the plot.

When I’m explaining something to someone, whether it’s how AI agents handle tasks, how Oracle handles waits, or why your database migration strategy matters, I must always remind myself to go simple first. Because if I can’t explain it clearly without relying on the trendiest buzzword of the month, then maybe I don’t understand it well enough yet.

I truly believe the rule of thumb should be: If someone can’t explain it to a smart, curious 5-year-old, then the decision is they don’t understand it deeply enough themselves. And if someone can? Well, they’re the kind of technologist I enjoy working with.

Plain language isn’t a lack of sophistication; it’s a sign of mastery.

 

Peace out,

DBAKevlar

Join the debate, and respond to today's editorial on the forums

 
  Featured Contents
SQLServerCentral Article

PostgreSQL Aggregate Functions

Shivayan Mukherjee from SQLServerCentral

Overview In this article we will go through the various in built aggregate functions available in PostgreSQL. Aggregate functions perform a calculation on a set of rows and return a single value. COUNT Function The COUNT function is a simple and very useful function in counting the number of records, which are expected to be […]

SQLServerCentral Article

Cloning Master Admin User Permissions in Amazon RDS for SQL Server with Fine-Grained Control

Arvind Toorpu from SQLServerCentral

This article explores how to securely clone the master user permissions in Amazon RDS for SQL Server using a custom stored procedure, usp_rds_clone_login. It outlines a step-by-step process to generate, review, and apply a script that replicates server- and database-level access from the master user to a new login without directly exposing elevated credentials. The guide emphasizes the principle of least privilege, supports named account management, and enables transparent, auditable permission handling for DBAs and applications. Designed for secure and scalable environments, this solution enhances operational security while maintaining administrative flexibility in Amazon RDS.

External Article

Zero-Trust Architecture for Cloud-Based AI Systems

Additional Articles from SimpleTalk

Zero-Trust Architecture (ZTA) emerges as a strong security paradigm for cloud-based AI systems, fundamentally operating on the principle of “never trust, always verify.” Unlike conventional security models, ZTA assumes potential compromise exists within the network and requires continuous verification of every access request regardless of origin.

Blog Post

From the SQL Server Central Blogs - SQL Server Editions: What’s the Difference and Why It Matters

Kevin3NF from Dallas DBAs

Understanding the Limits Before You Hit Them If you’re responsible for a SQL Server instance but don’t live and breathe licensing, you’re not alone. Many IT managers and sysadmins...

Blog Post

From the SQL Server Central Blogs - Get Certified in Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals (DP-900) FAST with NO Experience Needed

Rohit Garg from MSSQLFUN

As data becomes the backbone of modern business, understanding how to manage and analyze it in the cloud is a must-have skill. The DP-900: Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals certification...

Technical Article

Has the PK been used --

dbakevlar from SQLServerCentral

 

Introduction to PostgreSQL for the data professional

Introduction to PostgreSQL for the data professional

Site Owners from SQLServerCentral

Adoption and use of PostgreSQL is growing all the time. From mom-and-pop shops to large enterprises, more data is being managed by PostgreSQL. In turn, this means that more data professionals need to learn PostgreSQL even when they have experience with other databases. While the documentation around PostgreSQL is detailed and technically rich, finding a simple, clear path to learning what it is, what it does, and how to use it can be challenging. This book seeks to help with that challenge.

 

  Question of the Day

Today's question (by dbakevlar):

 

Has the PK been used --

I kept it simple, since this is the first time I'm submitting a question into the Newsletter:

You're analyzing a query execution plan in SQL Server to determine whether the query optimizer chose to use a primary key index. Which Dynamic Management View (DMV) would you use to verify the usage of the primary key?

Think you know the answer? Click here, and find out if you are right.

 

 

  Yesterday's Question of the Day (by Steve Jones - SSC Editor)

Independence Day

The film independence day was released in 1996. Which of these queries returns that year is run today?

Answer: SELECT CAST (0x000007CC AS INT), SELECT YEAR(CAST(0x313939362D30372D3033 AS VARCHAR(20))), SELECT YEAR(DATEADD( YEAR, -29, GETDATE())), SELECT 10+46+2000-60

Explanation: These all work. Happy 4th of July!

Discuss this question and answer on the forums

 

 

 

Database Pros Who Need Your Help

Here's a few of the new posts today on the forums. To see more, visit the forums.


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Anything that is NOT about SQL!
Need help in changing my displayname - How do I change my display name, in my edit profile there are only drop down options available. No option available to edit existing displayname. thanks inadvance.
Editorials
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Filling Big Shoes - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Filling Big Shoes
Article Discussions by Author
Unmasking CXPACKET and CXCONSUMER in SQL Server: What Your Execution Plan Isn’t Telling You - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Unmasking CXPACKET and CXCONSUMER in SQL Server: What Your Execution Plan Isn’t Telling You
Automating SQL Server Inventory Collection with SQLInventory - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Automating SQL Server Inventory Collection with SQLInventory
Stairway to Snowflake Level 8 - Event Tables - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Stairway to Snowflake Level 8 - Event Tables
 

 

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