The Rise of the Translator: The Hidden Power Role Behind Every Successful Company

Companies don’t fail because they lack expertise.

They fail because they can’t turn expertise into action.

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." — George Bernard Shaw

Every company struggles with cross-functional communication. But what if the real problem isn’t communication? Why do some companies thrive while others collapse under the weight of their own knowledge?

The answer: translators. And most companies don’t even know they need them.

The Boeing Collapse – A Failure of Translation

The engineers knew. They ran the tests. Flagged the risks. Sent the reports. Leadership ignored them. Not because they didn’t care. Not because they wanted to gamble with lives. But because they didn’t understand.

And that’s how Boeing—a $100B aerospace giant—built a plane that killed 346 people. This wasn’t a case of bad engineering. It was a failure to bridge technical truth with business reality. It wasn’t unique. It happens in every company that assumes “communication” is a soft skill instead of a survival skill. The businesses that don’t bridge this gap? They collapse. The ones that do? They win.

And the ones who make that happen? Translators.

This isn’t about blame. The engineers had data. Leadership had business pressures. The disconnect wasn’t intent—it was translation. And when that gap goes unbridged, everyone loses.

The Translator: The Corporate Role That Doesn’t Exist—But Should

In every industry, there’s an invisible power role. It’s not the CEO. It’s not the engineer. It’s the one who bridges knowledge gaps before they become blind spots. The one who connects expertise with execution. The one who sees the cracks forming before leadership ever notices the foundation shifting. Yet most companies don’t recognize them.

And that’s why they fail.

"Nearly 75% of cross-functional teams are dysfunctional." — Harvard Business Review

Studies consistently show that ineffective communication is one of the top reasons projects fail. A recent Forbes report highlights that poor communication remains a primary driver of failure in organizations, affecting efficiency and decision-making at every level. In companies that don’t recognize translators, that number is even higher. Because when experts and decision-makers aren’t speaking the same language, failure isn’t an anomaly—it’s inevitable.

Where the Smart Fear to Tread

Some of the world’s worst failures didn’t happen due to bad ideas or lack of intelligence. They happened because expertise wasn’t translated into action.

Case in point: The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. NASA engineers knew the O-rings could fail in cold weather. They raised concerns, warning that the launch conditions weren’t safe. Leadership pushed ahead anyway. Not because they were reckless, but because they didn’t fully grasp what the engineers were telling them in terms of real-world consequences. This wasn’t a lack of intelligence. It was a lack of translation. And it cost lives.

This proves a key truth: Even the smartest teams need this. In fact, the smarter they are, the more they need it.

• Boeing’s engineers saw the risk—no one communicated it into executive urgency.
• NASA’s engineers saw the risk—no one turned it into a decision leadership could act on.

According to Harvard Business Review, nearly 75% of cross-functional teams are dysfunctional. Why? Because most teams assume collaboration will happen naturally. It doesn’t. It needs people who don’t just pass information along but ensure it actually lands. The lesson? It’s not enough to be right. You have to be understood.

Translators in Action: The Leaders Who Built Empires

Translators aren’t just corporate roles—they’re the reason some of the most successful organizations in history didn’t collapse under their own weight.

Consider Steve Jobs. A facilitator between engineering, design, and consumer psychology. He wasn’t an engineer, but he understood technical limitations. He wasn’t a designer, but he understood aesthetic intuition. He wasn’t a marketer, but he understood how to make people care. The result? Apple didn’t just make tech. It changed culture.

Or Jensen Huang of NVIDIA. A translator between engineering and the AI revolution. He took a company that made graphics cards and positioned it as the backbone of modern AI. He understood the market AND the technology—so when AI exploded, NVIDIA was already years ahead. These people don’t just predict the future. They shape it by turning vision into reality.

"AI doesn’t think. It predicts." — Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO

The Nurturing Program: Building Bridges, Not Just Finding Them

Not every organization has these people. But the good news? You can nurture them by creating the space for them to emerge:

• Two-week rotations: Each quarter, have employees from different teams—engineering, marketing, product—spend time embedded in other departments.
• Hands-on engagement: Participants actively contribute, ensuring they gain real insights.
• Translators in training: This exposure creates awareness, respect, and better collaboration.

Because if you don’t invest in them, your company becomes a mess of misaligned priorities. The companies that thrive? They don’t just relyon. They develop.

The Final Punch: Who Do You Want to Be?

Translators will run the future. If you’re not one, you’ll work for one.

So what’s your next move? Here are three questions to ask yourself:

• Where in your organization are gaps forming between expertise and execution?
• Who are the translators around you—and how can you support them?
• Are you willing to step into that role, even when it’s uncomfortable?

The future belongs to those who bridge the gaps before they become blind spots. Which side will you be on?