Strategy Translator

Why doesn’t the strategy reach the team?

Because it’s rarely translated, only presented. A strategy that needs twenty slides arrives as a list, gets one all-hands, and then competes with everything else for attention. A strategy nobody can repeat in one sentence isn’t a strategy yet, at least not for the people doing the work.

Take Strategy Translator: twelve questions, about four minutes. Answer for the last quarter.

What does the test look at?

Four areas, three questions each:

• Saying it in one sentence. Whether you can explain the strategy without the slides.
• Linking team goals to it. Whether each goal says how it helps, and what you’ll stop doing.
• Repeating it. Whether it comes up in ordinary decisions, not just at launch.
• Checking it landed. Whether you know how your teams would describe it.

What do I get at the end?

A clarity score out of 100 and the two places where the strategy gets lost, each with one thing to try on Monday. The bands are “Translated” (70 and above), “Partly translated” (40 to 69) and “Lost in translation” (below 40).

Strategy Translator is built for your team to answer anonymously. Team mode is coming. For now, you rate yourself.

How is it worked out?

Each answer runs from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Six of the twelve questions describe a healthy habit, such as “I ask people to tell me the strategy in their own words”, and are flipped before scoring. Each area’s average shows how much clarity is lost there. The overall average becomes the score, from 0 to 100.

The questions, areas, bands and advice are a draft written with AI and are waiting for a coach’s review. Treat the result as a mirror, not a verdict.

What should I read or take next?

Read why employees don’t understand your strategy for a worked example. To check whether the strategy reaches people two layers down, take Skip-Level Pulse, and The 42 Test shows whether you tend to leave room or spell things out. Every tool for this stage is on the Managers of managers page.