Why Alignment = Compound Interest
When I get a call to work with a company, one of the primary pain points shared is a “lack of alignment.” What the person usually means is that executives and teams aren’t oriented toward the same north star, for the same reason, in a way that synchronizes efforts. It’s a wildly common issue in organizations (and one of my favorite problems to solve, actually.)
But here’s the thing.
Leaders are right - inefficiencies are patently bad for performance, revenue, talent retention, shareholder value - all of it.
But they don’t know how right they actually are when it comes to alignment.
Consider this:
A single Clydesdale can pull 8,000 pounds. But two horses working together don't just double that to 16,000 pounds – when working together, they can pull 24,000 pounds. What’s even more impressive, though, is that trained to work in an aligned (even more specialized) manner, the horses can pull 32,000 pounds, four times what either could move alone. Talk about teamwork.
This same principle applies to organizational performance. When I see people working in silos, with chronic back-channeling, a culture of fear, avoidant management, murky milestones, tepid support - I know very clearly the job at hand. Time for alignment.
When we get people working in true coordination, the results don't just add up – they multiply – compounding the impact on the speed to desired results.
Alignment takes time and intention (and the skillset of an outside thinker, in my experience), but it delivers happier, more productive people, a shared sense of mission and of course - profits.
In other words, it’s actually more work to stay “out of sync” than to put in the hard work of getting into sync.
If you already have your Clydesdales pulling for you in an aligned way, this Bud’s for you.
Looking forward to some time at home for the holidays. Reach out with thoughts, or to talk through any alignment issues of your own.
Cheers to 2025...
BG