Two Dialects, Same Language
Translating Dialects: Military and Private Sector, Same Language, Same Outcomes
There’s something almost comical about the first time you realize you’re speaking English and not being understood. Anyone who has been around wildly different dialects of their native language should understand this instinctively.
For military folks crossing over into the private sector, this moment is often subtle at first, but obvious in hindsight. Suddenly, all those acronyms, mission briefs, and war stories feel like you’re using the right words but in all the wrong sentences.
It’s not a lack of substance, just a wild mismatch of translation. My favorite personal example that I felt strongly about in the military was the “CARVER Matrix Analysis”, a tool used by engineers and specialists in unconventional warfare to identify valuable infrastructure for targeting. While this would generate blank stares from civilians (and many veterans who never used this tool), in their dialect, we were merely talking about “market analysis” and “targeted marketing strategy” through logic, orders of effect, and hypothetical debate.
Same tool, different wrapping paper.
Different Worlds, Same Outcomes
Additionally, the objectives almost always line up. Military or private sector, you’re hunting for the most efficient way to accomplish a goal with the resources you have. You’re deciding how to prioritize effort, manage risk, and lead a team to a win. But the way you talk about it in one world just doesn’t always land in the other. In a sense, this is the culture of both the modern military and all sorts of business ventures. The culture is the same, yet the dialect remains a chasm apart.
In The Catalyst Program, we’ve discussed many times the concept of “bridge builders” between these two dialects. Think of these people as the instructors at a military language school. An impressive collection of real-world interpreters with hard-earned skills who know exactly what it means to speak one way at home base and another language in the field.
We break down private sector jargon for people who’ve spent years getting things done with a different vocabulary. The point really lands not only with transitioning vets, but with business executives, too. They see quickly that what they once heard as “incomprehensible military” was actually just a different way to say “resource management,” “risk mitigation,” or “leadership development.”
Lightbulb Moments
Typically once a week, at least one of our Candidates have what I’ve termed their “lightbulb moments”. The language barrier breaks down, and you can see them in the moment, realizing “Wait… I’ve basically been doing executive consulting for twenty years and never knew that was what it was called. There’s a whole market out there for what I already know.”
Early on, candidates are often stiff and guarded. The energy is a little nervous as the Candidates acclimatize themselves to a new environment. Usually around the first Consulting Project wraps, apprehension slides into excitement as they see how everything they did in the military from mission planning, after-action reviews, team leadership has a direct, valuable corollary in business.
We know the transformation is complete when the teams start throwing (friendly) jabs and arguing over who’s got the best strategy or whose final presentation is going to raise eyebrows from the business leaders being presented to.
The Outcome: Natural Translation
Eventually with enough practice, the “business language” begins to flow out naturally. At some point, you stop translating in your head and you just start speaking… it fits. What was once a foreign dialect is now just another tool in the kit.
No matter where they’re coming from, people recognize the lesson when it’s framed the right way: talent is talent, and a little translation goes a long way toward unlocking some of the most hard-won experience out there. Give veteran leaders the right bridges, they’ll cross over and start building new ones of their own.
