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Alignment Unplugged

Nov 1, 2023

Unlock the power of strategic alignment to drive organizational success.

Unlock the power of strategic alignment to drive organizational success.

Alignment Unplugged

Bring your talented people together.

By Howard M. Guttman


TO SOME PEOPLE, alignment conjures up images of what a mechanic does to a car when the steering is out of whack or what a chiropractor does to the body to restore it to better balance and integration. Organizational alignment has more to do with the human side, as organizations are enterprises created by people to achieve results. When properly aligned, the parts move in sync to achieve results. There is a straight line of sight from the strategy to its customers. Scarce human, financial, and capital resources are deployed along that line of sight, so value gets created and added quickly, consistently, and cost-effectively. This makes aligned organizations fiercely competitive, high-performance entities.


Five Areas of Alignment

To achieve high performance, every team must be aligned in five areas:

  1. Aligning with the Business Strategy

    Strategic alignment entails agreement on the future direction of the business—the competitive advantage, the products offered, and the markets served—as well as those that fall outside the boundary. It also includes the capabilities needed now and in the future, along with long-term growth and financial targets.


For instance, several years ago, the North American and European senior teams of a global consumer goods company met to set strategy. The Americans championed the new strategy, while their European counterparts nodded in silent agreement but never truly bought in. Both sides left the meeting with mixed messages, setting off fierce competition for resources, with each area pursuing different product and market approaches. Within 18 months, the new product pipeline was empty, and time-to-market lagged 30 percent behind the industry standard.


Strategic misalignment leads to self-sabotage and forces managers to spend time plugging leaks in the dike rather than implementing key priorities.


In contrast, Johnson & Johnson’s senior team exemplifies a tightly aligned, highly effective leadership group. J&J is comprised of over 200 business units tied together by clear, common goals and values articulated in the company’s Credo. According to Dr. Martin N. Freedman, director of the School of Personal and Professional Development, “The Credo isn’t just displayed: People make day-to-day decisions based on it. We are guided by our responsibility to the community, our fellow employees, our stockholders, and the people who use our products.”


  1. Aligning Business Deliverables with Strategy

    How can you ensure that the day-to-day work in which people are engaged supports the values and goals?


Dr. Freedman gives the example of a leader at J&J who faced this challenge when he took over a J&J operating company. During his first meeting with his senior team, he asked how many open projects they had. The answer was 475. He then presented seven corporate goals and asked how many of the 475 projects aligned with them. The team found that only 33 were aligned, prompting the leader to direct a reassessment of the remaining 442 projects.


  1. Aligning Roles and Responsibilities at All Levels

    Today’s horizontal, matrixed organizations are dynamic and fluid. The need for speed places a premium on having clear roles and responsibilities aligned with the business strategy and operational imperatives.


Paul Michaels, president of Mars, notes that turf battles occur when a company fails to clarify roles and accountabilities, pulling everyone in different directions. Before beginning a team alignment, ask team members to rate their performance in areas such as role clarity and accountability. During alignment sessions, team members can define their jobs, identify gaps, and agree on a new model with intersection points that everyone supports.


  1. Aligning Decision-Making Ground Rules or Protocols

    Confusion over who will make decisions and how they will be made can lead to “decision drag” that slows team performance. Every team should develop and agree on decision-making protocols, such as:

  2. How decisions will be made (unilaterally, collaboratively, or by consensus).

  3. Who will be consulted for information or opinions.

  4. Who will make and execute the final decision.


Simple rules like “no triangulation,” “resolve it or let it go,” and “don’t accuse in absentia” can eliminate much of the unresolved conflict that paralyzes teams.


  1. Aligning Business Relationships

    How well a team aligns in strategy, activities, roles, and protocols reflects the quality of interpersonal relationships. Dysfunctional teams often exhibit silo thinking, subterfuge, and communication styles that are nonassertive, assertive, or aggressive—each with its own payoffs and costs.


To align relationships, team members can assess one another’s behavior styles, moderate their behavior to become more assertive, and “contract” with colleagues to make changes that facilitate conflict resolution.


Result: High Performance

Alignment removes guesswork from high performance by explicitly defining results, relationships, and behaviors for success. Aligned teams are high-powered, high-performance entities.


To determine if your team is a high performer, Freedman suggests assessing its projects against three or four key strategic goals. Alternatively, ask if your team possesses these eight attributes of high performance:


  • Clear team goals.

  • The right players in place.

  • Clear roles and responsibilities.

  • Commitment to winning for the business over self-interest.

  • A common decision-making/leadership mechanism.

  • A sense of ownership and accountability for business results.

  • Comfort dealing with conflict.

  • A process for periodic self-assessment.


If your answers include “nos” or “maybes,” your team may be due for an alignment.


Howard M. Guttman is the principal of Guttman Development Strategies and author of When Goliaths Clash: Managing Executive Conflict to Build a More Dynamic Organization. Email: hmguttman@guttmandev.com


ACTION: Align your company today.

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