Strategy often carries an aura of mystique in business circles. It’s the word that gets tossed around in boardrooms, embedded in PowerPoint decks, and etched into mission statements. Yet, for all its perceived complexity, most strategy work is not about inventing something radically new. It’s about translation—taking abstract ideas, broad ambitions, or high-level goals and converting them into something tangible, actionable, and understandable across different layers of an organization. The real challenge of strategy isn’t always in the thinking; it’s in the communicating.
Consider the typical strategic planning process. A leadership team might spend weeks or months crafting a vision for the future. They define priorities, set targets, and outline competitive advantages. But once that strategy is finalized, the real work begins: translating that vision into language and actions that resonate with people who weren’t in the room. A strategy that sounds compelling in a C-suite presentation can easily fall flat when it reaches frontline employees unless it’s been carefully adapted to their context. Translation is what bridges that gap.
This translation isn’t just about simplifying language. It’s about interpreting intent, aligning incentives, and tailoring messages to different audiences. A strategy to “increase market share through digital transformation” might mean one thing to a product manager and something entirely different to a customer service representative. The product manager may need to rethink the roadmap to prioritize digital features, while the customer service team might need new tools or training to support customers using those features. Without translation, the strategy remains a lofty idea disconnected from day-to-day reality.
Translation also plays a critical role in cross-functional alignment. Different departments often speak different dialects of the same organizational language. Finance might focus on cost efficiency, marketing on brand equity, and operations on throughput. A good strategist doesn’t just hand out a strategy document and hope for the best. They act as a translator, ensuring that each function understands how the strategy applies to them and how their work contributes to the broader goals. This requires empathy, clarity, and a deep understanding of how different teams operate.
Even within a single team, translation is essential. People bring their own experiences, assumptions, and interpretations to the table. A directive to “innovate more aggressively” could be interpreted as a call for risk-taking by one person and as a push for faster execution by another. Strategy translation involves clarifying these nuances, aligning expectations, and creating shared understanding. It’s not enough to say what the strategy is; you have to help people see what it means for them.
One of the most overlooked aspects of strategy translation is timing. A strategy might be sound, but if it’s introduced at the wrong moment or without the right context, it can falter. Leaders must be attuned to the rhythms of their organization—when people are ready to hear a message, when they’re overwhelmed, and when they’re primed for change. Translation involves pacing, sequencing, and storytelling. It’s about knowing when to zoom out and when to zoom in, when to inspire and when to instruct.
The best strategists are often not the ones with the most novel ideas, but the ones who can make ideas stick. They know how to translate strategy into culture, into process, and into behavior. They understand that strategy lives not in documents but in decisions. Every time a manager makes a trade-off, every time a team chooses one project over another, they’re enacting strategy. But they can only do that effectively if the strategy has been translated into terms they understand and trust.
Take the example of a company shifting from a product-centric model to a customer-centric one. That’s a strategic pivot that sounds straightforward, but it requires translation at every level. Product teams need to rethink how they gather customer feedback. Sales teams need to adjust how they pitch value. Support teams need to redefine success metrics. The strategy only becomes real when each team understands what customer-centricity means in their world. That’s the power of translation—it turns abstract direction into concrete change.
In global organizations, translation takes on an even more literal dimension. Strategies crafted in one country or culture may not resonate in another. Language barriers, cultural norms, and market dynamics all influence how strategy is received. A global strategist must be a master translator, not just of words but of meaning. They must adapt strategy to local realities without losing its essence. This balancing act requires humility, curiosity, and a willingness to listen.
Ultimately, strategy is a conversation, not a proclamation. It’s a dialogue between vision and execution, between leaders and teams, between aspiration and reality. And like any good conversation, it depends on mutual understanding. That’s why most strategy is just translation. It’s the art of making ideas travel—across departments, across hierarchies, and across minds. When done well, it turns strategy from a static plan into a living, breathing force that guides action and drives impact.