The 'translation' of strategy, with its implications for management skills and organisational process and culture, is far more important than simply communicating it. By Hamish Scott

Walk through open-plan offices and factory floors and ask middle managers and their people the following questions: what is holding you back, and what does this organisation need in order to become a huge success? The reply is often the same: 'we need a strategy'. Pose the same questions to executives in corner offices, however, and the response instead is roadshows, workshops, announcements and fancy launches.

An increasing number of managers are beginning to realise that the challenge is neither communication nor strategy formulation: the real challenge is 'translation'. Effective translation of strategy has implications for the processes of goal setting and performance management, the skills and qualities of managers, and the attitudes of people right across the organisation. Managers who translate strategywell are more effective than those who communicate it...

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