Honasa co-founder Varun Alagh explains why ‘flowery language’ at workplace is a red flag: ‘If you can’t…'

In boardrooms and meeting rooms across corporate India, long explanations filled with buzzwords often pass as intelligence. Polished presentations, heavy jargon, and carefully crafted “corporate speak” may sound impressive—but they frequently blur meaning instead of sharpening it. As businesses move faster and decisions carry higher stakes, this habit is increasingly being seen as a liability rather than a strength.

This concern was recently highlighted by Varun Alagh, co-founder of Honasa Consumer Limited, in a LinkedIn post that has sparked widespread debate online.

Sharing a glimpse into his leadership style, Alagh wrote that in many meetings, his teams often hear him interrupt with simple but pointed questions like “Can you explain this in two lines?” or “Thoda Hindi mein samjhaoge?”

There is a reason for this, he explained. Alagh calls it “Twaddle Tendency”—a behaviour that surfaces when people are not fully clear about what they are saying.

According to him, lack of clarity leads people to overcompensate. They rely on complex jargon, corporate phrases, and disconnected storytelling to appear smarter than they actually are. But in reality, this is a red flag.

“When this flowery language gets validated, it comes with a hidden problem: a lack of substance and clarity,” Alagh wrote, adding, “If you can’t explain it simply, you probably don’t understand it well enough.”

The hidden cost of flowery language

Alagh warned that workplaces often reward such communication without realising its impact. When style is mistaken for insight, unclear ideas escape questioning. Over time, this leads to weak strategies, poor execution, and bad decisions surfacing much later.

To prevent this, he stressed the need to build a culture of “simple and brief” communication across organisations.

This approach, he said, should be visible everywhere:

From interviews, by filtering candidates who can break down complex ideas easily

In meetings, by encouraging direct answers instead of unnecessary “twaddle”

In presentations, by valuing data and the “why” over fonts, filler, and theatrics

At its core, Alagh emphasised, clear communication must take priority over complexity.

Netizens echo the message

The post struck a strong chord with professionals across industries, many of whom shared their own frustrations with jargon-heavy communication.

One user summed it up sharply: “Brevity is not brutality; it is respect for intelligence. When language obscures meaning, it reveals insecurity, not sophistication. Clarity, delivered simply, is the highest form of competence.”

Another pointed out how the problem extends beyond meetings: “Same things with written communication—emails and proposals. I get pages that basically say, ‘look how much effort (words/chars) I put into avoiding thinking’. It is annoying, like wasting tokens is a reason to cheer.”

A third user highlighted the leadership impact: “Complicated language usually just hides fuzzy ideas. When clear, simple explanations take a back seat, people start getting rewarded for style over substance. That’s how bad decisions sneak in.”