ERP Translator

Three ERP projects failed in 2025 with the same hiring mistake. Your ERP project team is full of brilliant people. Technical experts. Finance specialists. Operations leads. All capable. All committed.   And they can't make each other understand what matters.   That's why your project is stalled.   Here's the truth: Technical capability doesn't equal transformation capability.   Your IT lead can build anything. But if they can't explain constraints to Finance without jargon, you're heading for conflict.   Your Finance lead knows what the board needs. But if they can't articulate why it matters to IT, you're stuck.   Your Operations lead understands workflows. But if no one's translating those into system requirements, you get resistance.   Three brilliant specialists. Zero translation. That's where projects die.   Here's what you need: Someone who speaks all three languages.   Someone who can sit in a room where Finance demands real-time reporting, IT explains why that's not feasible, and Operations panics, and translate all three into one outcome everyone commits to.   That's not a technical skill. That's a translation skill.   Here's what that looks like: Finance: "We need accurate project cost visibility for board meetings." IT hears: "Build real-time dashboards." Operations hears: "More manual work."   Everyone defends. No resolution.   A translator reframes: To Finance: "Would daily 6am snapshots give you 90% of what you need?" To IT: "Can you deliver daily snapshots without a rebuild?" To Operations: "If IT automates this, does it reduce your workload?" Suddenly: "Daily snapshots by 6am, automated, starting in two weeks."   Finance gets credibility. IT gets realistic expectations. Operations gets less work.   That's translation. The mistake: Hire for domain expertise and hope alignment happens. It doesn't.   Finance, IT, and Operations will always speak different languages.   But if no one can translate, you get: • Meetings where everyone talks past each other • Specs that don't match needs • Builds that work technically but fail operationally • Resistance because no one explained why it matters   If you're planning ERP work in 2026: Stop hiring pure techies. Start hiring translators.   People who understand Finance's board pressure, IT's constraints, and Operations' chaos, and can turn all three into one language.   If your team is full of specialists who can't align, you don't need more expertise.   You need someone who can bridge the gap.   Planning your 2026 ERP team? Let's talk about what translation capability actually looks like.