What’s In a Name? One writer’s frustration with technical term redundancy
By Grace Edinger
English has more synonyms and homonyms than any other modern language, a byproduct of its history. While writers may love (or hate) the plethora of options, the abundance of word choice often leaves people confused, puzzled, jumbled, bewildered, bamboozled (you get the picture) - making it difficult for researchers to find what they need when dealing with complex, technical topics.
Dealing primarily with government procurement and environmental permitting law, I’ve been struggling with word choice both in my own research and writing. The subject matter is layered and complicated enough; do we really need to add seven seemingly synonymous terms on top of it?
I’m specifically referring to the contract structure commonly referred to as “Pay for Success (PFS)”. PFS refers to the practice of paying a contract upon successful delivery of predetermined outcomes. The complexities come in when discussing its varied use in government, the layers of underlying policy, and unstandardized metrics for outcomes. Additionally, I found 10 “synonyms” used in its place. The term synonyms is in quotes because by true definition, many of these terms mean different things. Fed up with the unnecessary redundancy, I went out to clearly define each term and decided if and how I would use it in my own work on strategy and advocacy with the Restoration Economy Center.
This table depicts the most frequently used terms that are similar or related to PFS. I have found all five used synonymously with PFS, although not all five are true synonyms.
| Term | Where it's Used | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Pay for Success (PFS) | Originating in the social services sector, the Obama Administration used the term PFS in reference to their initiative, used in contracts, RFPs, reports, and colloquial speech. | Pay for success (PFS) is an innovative financing mechanism that shifts financial risk from a traditional funder—usually government—to a new investor, who provides up-front capital. If agreed upon outcomes are delivered successfully, then the investment is repaid by the traditional funder. If not, the investor takes the loss. |
| Pay for Performance (PFP) | Used in contracts, RFPs, reports, and colloquial speech. Almost as frequently as Pay for Success. | See Pay for Success definition above. Seemingly a true synonym. Additionally, employee payscale programs also use this term to refer to wage raises given based on predetermined performance metrics. |
| Outcomes-Based Procurement | Used frequently in Europe in referencing Pay for Success/Pay for Performance contract methodology, also becoming prevalent in the United States | See Pay for Success definition above. Seemingly a true synonym. |
| Full Delivery | Colloquially, not used frequently in contracting language or reports. The private sector often uses this term when discussing Pay for Success. | A project where the contractor manages and integrates both the design and construction elements. Full-delivery projects include a preliminary step that involves the contractor acquiring property and a post-construction step that verifies outcomes. Full Delivery projects utilizes Pay for Success contracting, but this term emcompasses more than just the outcomes-based contract structure. |
| Environmental Impact Bond (EIB) | Often used as a synonym for PFS, especially in finance/economy circles. | An Environmental Impact Bond (EIB) is a type of bond (often a municipal bond) which signals to investors that the issuer has market-leading ESG transparency and accountability in their bond. It uses Pay for Success to provide up-front capital from private investors for environmental projects such as green stormwater infrastructure or forest restoration. |
| Alternative Delivery | Used in government procurement codes and other formal government language | Alternative delivery procurement methods include design-build, design-assist, integrated project delivery methods including P3s, full delivery, and Pay for Success. Essentially everything besides design-bid-build procurement. |
This writer, and the Restoration Economy Center as a whole, will be using the term Pay for Success in our communication. It is straightforward in meaning, often used by various government agencies, and has the most accurate online search results (preventing our work from getting lost in the haystack of synonyms online).