Alignment: Same Situation?

Alignment: Same Situation?

The second question asks: do we actually see the same thing?

The Illusion of Alignment

"We're aligned" is one of the most dangerous phrases in organizational life.

It usually means: "We've stopped talking and no one is actively objecting." But it rarely means: "We genuinely share an understanding of reality."

Watch what happens after an "aligned" meeting:

- People leave and describe the decision differently

- Actions taken don't match what was discussed

- Two weeks later: "Wait, I thought we agreed..."

The alignment was an illusion. The disagreement was just postponed.

Why Alignment Is Hard

Alignment is hard for fundamental reasons:

Different information: People in different roles see different slices of reality. The engineer sees technical constraints; the PM sees customer feedback; the exec sees board pressure.

Different mental models: Even with the same information, people interpret it through different frameworks. What looks like "moving fast" to one person looks like "cutting corners" to another.

Different stakes: What feels urgent to someone with quarterly targets feels like pressure to someone focused on long-term architecture.

Different histories: Past experiences shape how we interpret present situations. The person who's seen shortcuts backfire hears proposals differently than someone who hasn't.

Checking Alignment, Not Just Agreement

Agreement is easy: "Do you agree with this plan?" "Yes."

Alignment is harder: "What do you think this plan means? What are the risks? What will success look like? What concerns do you have?"

Real alignment requires surfacing different understandings, not just suppressing them.

Signs of Misalignment

Learn to notice:

- Same words, different meanings: "Quick win" means one thing to engineering, another to sales

- Implicit assumptions: "Of course we'll do X first" — but did everyone know that?

- False consensus: Head-nods without genuine agreement

- Delayed disagreement: "I was never comfortable with that" — said too late

Creating Real Alignment

Alignment isn't a single conversation—it's an ongoing practice:

1. Name what you're seeing: Share your understanding explicitly

2. Check for differences: "What are you seeing that I might not be?"

3. Surface assumptions: "What would have to be true for this to work?"

4. Invite dissent: "What concerns haven't we named yet?"

5. Confirm understanding: "Let me play back what I heard..."

This takes longer than false consensus. It takes less time than the misalignment crises that false consensus creates.

Alignment About What?

Not everything needs deep alignment. But some things do:

High alignment needed:

- What problem we're solving

- What success looks like

- Key constraints and tradeoffs

- Who's responsible for what

Lower alignment needed:

- Implementation details

- Working style preferences

- Topics outside your interdependence

Save your alignment energy for what matters.