Drive One Direction

How to unleash the accelerating power of alignment

The United States Military has an acronym called BLUF, which stands for Bottom Line Up Front.

Here is my BLUF: Alignment is the ultimate competitive advantage. 

I know this because I have studied over three hundred companies of all shapes, sizes, and industries.  And, I’ve had five back-to-back career experiences where the root cause of the organization’s dysfunction and/or failure was misalignment. 
 

In addition, as part of my research, I interviewed over One Hundred CEOs and have read “every book ever written” about alignment and dozens of white papers and scholarly articles. And, I’ve distilled my findings into The Twelve Foundational Principles of Alignment. They are:

1. Misalignment is an extremely common, pervasive problem that plagues organizations of all types.
2. There is no standard definition for alignment 
3. Alignment is mission-critical for every organization
4. Alignment is infinitely more complicated and difficult than it was just one generation ago
5. The complexity of alignment increases exponentially as the company grows, driven by three factors: the number of employees, the number of divisions, and the number of locations
6. Misalignment is the root cause of virtually every organizational—and interpersonal—dysfunction
7. There is no generally accepted metric to measure alignment, until now… my “Corporate Alignment Percentage™ (CAP)” assessment
8. Misalignment is extremely costly … and improving alignment might be the highest ROI activity any organization can undertake
9. Each company must create alignment in a unique One-of-a-Kind Way. This is driven by your life stage, operating model, and business philosophy
10. Alignment is primarily created at the corporate level for which I have created the “One and Only One” model
11. Teamwork is the foundation of alignment, but you must answer the question, “What does team mean?”
12. Highly aligned companies dramatically outperform their fragmented competitors. That is why I call them “fast-lane companies.”

I consider these Twelve Principles as “Alignment 101.” You will notice, I use the word “One” a lot. (My wife says I have a One-Track Mind. Of course, if she says it, it must be true!) Actually, I use the word “One” over and over because it is the best word to describe alignment. It is also the word that virtually every CEO I interviewed used. Some may find this trite or kitschy. Some—especially the grammarians and purists—might find it irritating that I always capitalize it.

Nonetheless, I hope you find these ideas to be One(s) worth considering. And, if you want to get everyone in your company driving in one direction, you can use this road map. Life is too short to work for a dysfunctional organization.

Dave Ramos, author, speaker, and CEO of SHIFTPOINTS, Inc., helps companies unleash the accelerating power of alignment. He does this through a unique mix of strategy consulting, organizational development, and executive coaching. Prior to founding SHIFTPOINTS, Ramos applied his passion for alignment in a broad range of settings, including large global corporations, venture-backed start-ups, and innovative nonprofits.  Visit www.shiftpoints.com  Connect Dave Ramos Follow @SHIFTPOINTS Book: Drive One Direction