In his book, \u201cTrue Alignment,\u201d author Edgar Papke makes the point that in genuinely great organizations, everyone . . . every executive, every manager, every employee . . . pulls together toward the same goal, the same outcome.\u00a0 Makes sense, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 After all, without this sort of \u201calignment,\u201d members of an organization can work at cross purposes to one another causing dysfunction, confusion, and inefficiencies.\u00a0 Yet in too many cases, if you ask a random sampling of an organization\u2019s members, \u201cWhat\u2019s our goal this year?,\u201d you\u2019ll get inconsistent answers, or maybe even radically different answers.\u00a0 So how can we possibly pull together as a team if we all have different ideas about where we\u2019re trying to go?\u00a0 For more on this and some thoughts for how you get your organization \u201caligned,\u201d please read below.<\/p>\n
\u201cExtraordinary companies and teams are those in which the what, why, and how are aligned.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>– Edgar Papke<\/p>\n According to Papke, high-performing organizations are aligned along three distinct but intertwined\u00a0 tracks.\u00a0 They have great clarity about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it.\u00a0 Take a look at each of these tracks separately.<\/p>\n What<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 You\u2019d think at a minimum, everyone would know what we do around here, wouldn\u2019t you?\u00a0 But that\u2019s not necessarily true.\u00a0 Oh, everyone can probably tell you what product or service we provide in a very basic, superficial way, but can they tell us what\u00a0outcomes<\/em><\/span> our product or service provides?\u00a0 It\u2019s the old story about drills.\u00a0 Nobody really wants a drill, they just want what a drill can do for them . . . make perfectly round holes.\u00a0 Nobody wants a sump pump, they just want a dry basement.\u00a0 Nobody wants life insurance, they just want the peace of mind it gives them.\u00a0 In fact, nobody cares about the product or service any of us provide.\u00a0 They only care about what our product or service can do for them.\u00a0 So if you want your organization aligned on the \u201cwhat\u201d track, get everyone focused on the outcome(s) you provide.\u00a0 Are we just making funny little rods of twisted steel here, or are we helping people make perfectly round holes?<\/p>\n Why<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Why do we do what we do?\u00a0 The answer to that question needs to stir some emotion, to give the organization a shared sense of purpose and mission.\u00a0 Let\u2019s imagine we\u2019re assembling child car seats.\u00a0 Why are we doing that?\u00a0 To make money, of course, but that doesn\u2019t really trip our emotional triggers.\u00a0 What if we\u2019re doing it to make cars safe for our kids?\u00a0 Now that\u2019s something that touches us and gives us that shared sense of mission and purpose.\u00a0 Clearly, it\u2019s easier for some businesses than others to answer the \u201cwhy\u201d question in a way that elicits an emotional response, but it can be done.\u00a0 Remember, people need a paycheck, but they also want to be involved in something that\u2019s important and has substance . . . something they can be proud to be a part of.<\/p>\n How<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Obviously, it\u2019s important to know the operational details of how we deliver our products or services.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not the \u201chow\u201d we\u2019re talking about here.\u00a0 This is more about culture and values . . . the rules we impose upon ourselves that tell us how we will relate to our customers, and how we will relate to one another.\u00a0 How do we communicate effectively with one another?\u00a0 How do we decide what behaviors we tolerate and what behaviors we do not?\u00a0 How will we honor our responsibilities to each other?<\/p>\n We\u2019re all in business to serve the needs of our customer.\u00a0 In many cases, we\u2019re in business, not only to serve the needs of our customer, but the needs of our customer\u2019s customer as well.\u00a0 Therefore, to be in alignment:<\/p>\n – what we do;<\/p>\n – why we do what we do; and<\/p>\n – how we do what we do<\/p>\n must all align with those customer needs.\u00a0 However, such alignment can\u2019t happen unless everyone in the organization has a uniform understanding of the what, why, and how.\u00a0 So good communication and leadership are key here.\u00a0 We need to communicate our what, why, and how clearly, concisely, and frequently, and then as leaders, we need to be living, breathing examples of alignment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In his book, \u201cTrue Alignment,\u201d author Edgar Papke makes the point that in genuinely great organizations, everyone . . . every executive, every manager, every employee . . . pulls together toward the same goal, the same outcome.\u00a0 Makes sense, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 After all, without this sort of \u201calignment,\u201d members of an organization can work<\/p>\n