How to put the "line" in alignment
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Hey Reader, Earlier this week, someone asked if I would look over a strategy doc they had created for an upcoming project. I grabbed a coffee, dug in, and by the end of the document, I had made over three dozen comments that all asked the same basic question: Why?
I had the sneaking suspicion that they didn’t know the answers. And this strategy document had already been reviewed by the other members of the project team. Everyone was aligned. I was only supposed to give it my blessing. But to me, what they wanted to achieve and what they thought it would take to achieve it weren’t really connected. Often, when people say they want to get alignment, they want everyone to agree about something. Maybe it’s a mission or a vision. Maybe it’s next best steps. That alignment is necessary. But what a lot of people miss is quite literally: a line. A line between the North Star of where they want to be and the nitty gritty of what it will take to get there. Dreamers often focus on the North Star and doers focus on the nitty gritty. But what happens to the line in between? No line = no real alignment = chaos Connecting the North Star and the nitty gritty is what makes something a strategy. Otherwise it’s just a goal and a collection of tasks. When we ignore the line in alignment, we get databases that are supposed to track…what? Announcements to the team that are supposed to achieve…what? Meetings for…what? Reports about project progress that tell us…what? We spin our wheels and don’t get much closer to our goal. Now, a story. About 15 years ago, I was working on one of my first real high stakes organizational change projects. We had a pretty clear North Star and the leadership team seemed equally clear on the nitty gritty. I worked my butt off every day to make the project vision a reality. I didn’t ask a ton of questions, because I thought the leaders knew better than I did. Until one day, I walked in to find the leaders holding a report I’d created. I’d spent hours and hours that week, crunching data and crafting a story around it to try and make it make sense to an end user. The report was so good, they said, but they actually needed something different. What did they need? I asked. They weren’t exactly sure, they said, but they needed it soon. And what was it for? I asked. Well, it was in case [big, scary, hypothetical situation] occurred. I tried to clarify: they wanted me to spend another couple of days creating this new report? Yes, they said. But they weren’t sure what they wanted? Right. And it wasn’t for a clear purpose? Well… Wait, and why did they ask me to create the original report in the first place? They did not know. They said they thought it was what they needed at the time, now things had changed, but they were really reaching: in all honesty, they did not know. They didn't really know why they were asking me to do most of what they were paying me to do. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has probably sunk a bunch of hours into a project or report or initiative that got the axe. But this wasn’t a one-off. It was a pattern of behavior that I only realized, in hindsight, was a pattern. And I came to find that this pattern continued because there was no line between the North Star of what they wanted to achieve and the nitty gritty of day-to-day to dos. So poor, young Caitlin got out her “why” machete and began to hack out a path between the North Star and the nitty gritty. She started asking why during every conversation (so much that the leadership team affectionately dubbed her The Devil’s Advocate, which is not a great name and not even an accurate representation of the situation, but that was the least of poor, young Caitlin’s problems). But guess what? With her “why” machete in hand, young Caitlin was able to better-utilize the organization’s resources. She was able to build some breathing room into the project timeline. She looked like a rockstar. She stopped wasting her own time. "North Star and nitty gritty" is part of Commcoterie’s methodology because of that project. We put the "line" in alignment. And the person I mentioned at the very beginning of the email, who asked if I could look over their strategy doc? Their response to my queries: 🤦 all good questions…guess that’s why we work with you, huh? 🙈 If what you’re doing every day seems disconnected from your organization’s vision or goal, folks on your team suggest and implement “solutions” without fully-defining the problem they’re meant to be solving, or you want to get more purposeful about your many to-dos, run them through the “why” test. If you can't answer why you're doing something, you don't have a strategy. Try it. And reply here and let me know if it helps. Talk soon, P.S. — Struggling to run the “why” test on your own? Clients love Commcoterie’s Alignment & Action retreat, and you probably will too. Whether you’re planning a team offsite or a full-blown company-wide retreat, our creative Alignment & Action programming gets everyone on the same page, helps them develop an understanding of the organization’s true “why” and how it applies to their day-to-day, kickstarts collaboration on real-world challenges, and helps teams plan for meaningful action long-term so that the line in alignment from the nitty gritty to the North Star is strong. Interested?
Links & LearningAn experimentSometime, in interpersonal communication, the word “why” can put folks on edge. I used it as an overall concept in this newsletter, but in practice, I often suggest turning “why” questions into “what” or “how” questions to open up your audience to suggestions by making the space feel collaborative and safe, rather than accusatory. Take, for example, the questions I used above:
Try it out and see what feels best for your audience and most authentic to you. An invitationJoin us for next month’s office hours where special guest, Sean Dagony-Clark, a generative AI and learning expert, will join me to talk about building a genAI capability at your organization: What are the benefits? What are the risks? How can you get started? We’ll talk about all of that and more on September 19th. Register here. A resourceMy colleague, Sharí Alexander, is an expert in presence-forward marketing, or helping leaders leverage keynotes, panels, breakout sessions, webinars, and podcasts to make a lasting impact at conferences and sales pitches, influence decisions and inspire teams, establish credibility and thought leadership, and promote their brand and drive leads. As someone who utilizes presence-forward marketing, I loved her Speech Scaffolding Guide — and I'm sharing it here for other leaders who might want to upgrade their speaking strategy. An opportunitySpeaking of conference speaking! BLD Southeast is coming to the Peach State, and I'll be there, doing a workshop about — what else — organizational change for purpose-driven companies. If you're in the Southeast and a B Corp or simply B-curious, join us in Atlanta in September! About UsCommcoterie helps leaders of purpose-driven companies and nonprofits ideate, navigate, and communicate change. What kinds of change? Any and all! A few of our favorite projects recently have been in the areas of:
We help our clients uncover and untangle challenges, design people-centered strategies, and create compelling communication that engages stakeholders internally and externally for long-lasting change. Our mission is to help our clients achieve theirs.
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