Alignment is not a poster on the wall. Alignment is what people do when you’re not in the room.
Misalignment shows up as:
- “I thought you wanted X.”
- “Sales promised Y.”
- “Operations can’t deliver Z.”
- “Nobody told me.”
The fix starts with clarity, then gets reinforced with cadence.
Start with clarity
- What are we trying to win at?
- What does “good” look like?
- What are the few priorities that matter this quarter?
- Who owns what?
Reinforce with cadence
- Weekly scorecard review
- Weekly priorities review
- Monthly reset (what’s working, what’s not)
Most teams don’t need motivation. They need alignment.
What to do this week
- Write a one-paragraph definition of “winning” for the next 90 days.
- Pick three priorities max for the quarter.
- Assign a single owner to each priority and track progress weekly.