I think the advice that 'tech people should learn to talk business' and 'business people should learn to talk tech' is spot on, and ultimately the most important point here. After all, there really is no such thing as a 'business person' or a 'tech person' there are just people, some of whom have spent time building experience in one domain, some in another domain.
My word of caution is this: due to the all too common 'them and us' situation (as described in the article), it is sometimes the case that the situation escalates to the point that one (or both) parties put up barriers to prevent 'the other side' from learning to speak their language, aka 'domain freakism'. This is sometime done as a defensive measure to prevent 'the other side' from 'getting in', for example to cover the tracks on things they dont want 'the other side' to know.
This doesnt always happen, but it is sad when it does.
My advice in this scenario is to find an independent person (either inside the company or outside) who can help you learn the basic language of 'the other side' to help bring that wall down. And then go solve the root problem around why one side does want to let the other side in (it's often skeletons / legacy).
This article alludes to this, but doesn't go into it - but the terms "Technology" and "Business" are totally bogus and I usually recommend that people don't use them.
I hear this all the time in big corporates - "We need to ask the Business", or "That's for Technology to sort out". It sets "Technology" apart from the rest of the organization in a way that just isn't realistic or productive.
When people invoke the term "The Business", what do they really mean? - is it marketing, or the call center, or the HR department, is it sales, is it the warehouse? It's a meaningless term. Technology is the Business just like every other part of an organization.
I've worked on projects where that mentality persists - and had successes and failures. I've also worked on projects where Tech/Business is never mentioned, it never comes up... These projects have been overwhelming successes (and more fun to boot).
My word of caution is this: due to the all too common 'them and us' situation (as described in the article), it is sometimes the case that the situation escalates to the point that one (or both) parties put up barriers to prevent 'the other side' from learning to speak their language, aka 'domain freakism'. This is sometime done as a defensive measure to prevent 'the other side' from 'getting in', for example to cover the tracks on things they dont want 'the other side' to know.
This doesnt always happen, but it is sad when it does. My advice in this scenario is to find an independent person (either inside the company or outside) who can help you learn the basic language of 'the other side' to help bring that wall down. And then go solve the root problem around why one side does want to let the other side in (it's often skeletons / legacy).