Alignment accelerates results. It fuels innovation. It impacts quality. And safety. The customer can detect it.
If you’re like most leaders you’re spending most of your time seeking agreement rather than alignment.
Agreement is a mirage. If teams agreed more often the role of leader would have never been created. Teams need a decision maker. How you make those decisions can either create alignment or destroy it.
The Collaboration Map®
In the video above Russ teaches what we call The Decision Map. We walk through it briefly in this post but in the video Russ provides much more detail.
The first step in seeking alignment is DEFINE. There are two things that need defining:
Alignment begins by getting clear on those two things. Most people involved in any discussion are not in the role of decision maker. Their job is to inform the decision maker.
Groups don’t make decisions. Leaders make decisions. Groups inform leaders so they make the best decision.
Organizations where those two questions aren’t clearly answered struggle to move quickly and have alignment around decisions.
The second step is DISCUSS. This is the opportunity for everyone to be heard. When leaders rush this step or skip it alignment doesn’t exist. Some leaders think they demonstrate urgency by deciding with discussing. That’s ego not reason speaking.
Ownership tends to be proportional to involvement. Don’t ask people to take ownership of a decision they did not help inform. That’s a command and control style of leadership. Orders are announced from the tower and the commoners are expected to go implement them without discussion.
The third step in The Decision Map is DECIDE. After the appropriate amount of discussion it’s time to make a decision. Appropriate means everyone has been heard. It doesn’t mean success is guaranteed or all desired data has been collected.
Every decision carries risk. Trying to minimize that risk is wise. Waiting to eliminate it is destructive.
If you’re not the decision maker your role in step three can be to call for the decision. If everyone has been heard say so and ask for a choice to be made.
The final step is OWN IT. When the three previous steps are followed it’s time to get aligned. Remember, the goal is not agreement. No one is asking everyone to agree with the decision. We’re asking you get aligned to it.
Own the decision as if you made it yourself. If you can’t do that then you need to consider your options. Your role on this team is to implement and support the decisions that are made. There are rare ethical concerns that are an exception that justify clear and urgent opposition to a decision. Absent those the organization has identified a decision maker and members of the team should be expected to get aligned to them.
Why Alignment is Missing
Most organizations lack alignment. It’s because there’s no established process for making decisions. Some leaders rush decisions and never seek discussion. Others seem to want to discuss options for years and can’t ever issue a verdict.
Members of teams lack clarity on who is making the decision. Groups or committees are assigned topics or issues and told to go talk about them until they reach agreement on a recommendation. No one knows their role or what step of the decision-making process we’re currently in.
The process outlined here has transformed organizations. We’ve seen it over and over again. When a leader adopts The Collaboration Map, or some other clear process, speed, trust, collaboration, ownership, and alignment all increase. Immediately.
We’ll admit we’ve taught this process to many organizations and seen absolutely no impact. The steps above made for an entertaining discussion during an off-site or Zoom meeting but it was never implemented. No process was established for creating alignment. The climate and results suffered.
In summary, here are the four steps again.
The Collaboration Map:
