We frequently get inquiries about translating my story splitting poster into other languages, typically from Agile consultants who work in primarily non-English speaking countries. This article explains how we prefer to approach translations.
First off, I’m thrilled that people all over the world find this to be a valuable resource, and I love the idea of non-English speakers getting access to it. However, I ask that would-be translators do the translation in a way that respects my work.
A translation of a copyrighted item is considered a derivative work, and creating a derivative work without the author’s permission is a copyright violation and a disrespectful thing to do, even if your intentions are good. That’s particularly true if the translation ends up on a piece with your branding to generate reputation and business for you.
So, how do we get translations of the story splitting poster out into the world in a way that’s legal and respectful? I’m glad you asked!
- If you’re interested in translating the poster, email me to make sure someone isn’t already doing a translation into your language. (My email is my first name at this website’s domain.)
- I’ll ask you to identify one or two other agilists who are native speakers of the language who are willing to act as reviewers. If it’s a language spoken in many different countries (e.g., Spanish, French, Portuguese, etc.), we’ll want to represent different major variations of the language so it works globally.
- We’ve created a translation key with each of the strings on the poster labeled. You send us a spreadsheet with a table of each ID and the translated string.
- Our marketing people get the translated strings into the actual poster in Adobe Illustrator. Note: This can take several weeks. By definition, translations are for communities we won’t get business from, so this isn’t the highest priority for our marketing folks. But since it carries the Humanizing Work brand, we want it to be high-quality, so we spend money to produce the posters well.
- You and the other reviews review the draft poster and provide feedback so we can make sure the final poster is just right.
- We post the poster on the Humanizing Work website. We link back to you. You get a translation credit on the poster. Presumably, you write about and link back to the poster for your community. (But please don’t host it yourself.)
This approach ensures consistent, high-quality posters in a variety of languages along with fair recognition for the work involved in the original resource.
Last updated