I was a software engineer who became a strategy consultant and part of my role is to communicate ideas back and forth between business and technical audiences.

I was a software engineer who became a strategy consultant and part of my role is to communicate ideas back and forth between business and technical audiences. Short answer: Lots of dialogue, feedback, listening and visual communication (i.e. whiteboard) Long answer: It's more complicated because the person impacting you is your boss. Ask if he can involve you in the design process next time and let him know that if he can, you'll be able to understand things more efficiently and there's less risk of doing it wrong. When designing, share ideas but avoid directly saying he is wrong. Ask thoughtful questions like what is the business trying to do and what are they trying to solve? What will they eventually do with the database/system?