I Speak Both Languages
Let me do the deciphering for you.
IT Group: “The RFP omits migration volumes, interface contracts, and nonfunctional constraints, so no vendor can estimate it.”
In Plain English
Nobody can price this accurately until we define what we’re actually asking them to do.
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IT Group “The RFP omits migration volumes, interface contracts, and nonfunctional constraints, so no vendor can estimate it.”
MarCom “The board’s business case won’t hold up until we define the replatforming scope vendors are bidding on.”
In Plain English Nobody can price this accurately until we define what we’re actually asking them to do.
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IT Group “The headless front end is composable, but the checkout integration doesn’t support our custom tax and fulfillment logic; run a POC before we sign.”
MarCom “Headless commerce gives us storefront agility, but checkout is the constraint; let’s pilot it before we commit.”
In Plain English The storefront looks flexible. The checkout isn’t. Test that before committing.
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IT Group “Each landing page is a bespoke post type with nonportable field definitions, so nothing carries over between campaigns.”
MarCom “Every campaign launch means rebuilding the same landing experience from scratch; our page production workflow doesn’t scale.”
In Plain English We keep rebuilding the same page every time we launch a campaign because it was developed inefficiently.
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IT Group “We need experience flows for the steering committee, plus sequence diagrams, SLOs, and API contracts for engineering.”
MarCom “We need a north-star CX vision for the steering committee and clear build requirements for the delivery team.”
In Plain English Show leadership what customers will experience and developers what they need to build.
Even when we’re talking to each other in the same room, we might be speaking two different languages. But don’t worry, I’m listening, and I understand both.
We might be social animals, but we’re also prisoners of our tribes. I can translate between the people who operate the business and the people who build its infrastructure, because I’ve lived in both. (We don’t have to resort to cannibalism.)
My communications background matters as much as my technical experience: the recommendation has to be clear enough for the whole team to act on.
My Background I hold an MA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College and a BA in English Literature with a concentration in formal poetry and creative writing (oddly enough). Language has always been my first love. Storytelling, whether at the game table or in the conference room, is a craft I’ve refined for over eighteen years.
Artifacts:
- Technical Audits
- Risk Assessments
- Architecture Diagrams
- Feasibility Studies
- Migration Plans