Is alignment overrated?
I don’t believe that alignment is overrated but is absolutely true that alignment without understanding is counterproductive. You’d think you’re aligned, while in reality, everybody is pulling in a different direction.
That’s why I usually force the understanding and clarity part, by pushing a comparative/trade-off approach.
To take your example on aligning on a top priority, let’s say ‘monetization’ is one, it helps clarify ‘monetization vs user experience in the next quarter’. Is monetization still the priority? Then great, we can align … with the clarity of what it means and the understanding of what it entails
Aligning on vague objectives is non-aligning (at best)
This post originally appeared on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/posts/johnpcutler_alignment-is-overrated-understanding-and-activity-7053076405483409408-yzRF
My name is Salva, I am a product exec and Senior Partner at Reasonable Product, a boutique Product Advisory Firm.
I write about product pricing, e-commerce/marketplaces, subscription models, and modern product organizations. I mainly engage and work in tech products, including SaaS, Marketplaces, and IoT (Hardware + Software).
My superpower is to move between ambiguity (as in creativity, innovation, opportunity, and ‘thinking out of the box’) and structure (as in ‘getting things done’ and getting real impact).
I am firmly convinced that you can help others only if you have lived the same challenges: I have been lucky enough to practice product leadership in companies of different sizes and with different product maturity. Doing product right is hard: I felt the pain myself and developed my methods to get to efficient product teams that produce meaningful work.