‘Beware the Word “Alignment”‘ – Forrester
James McQuivey says, “Another Friday lesson on corporate-speak. Last week I shared how wrong it is to be “right?” and I hope you are secretly forwarding that note to every offender in your organization. Today, I’m here to save you from the equally egregious word “alignment.” A seemingly simple word, one that baas like a gentle lamb on a hilly, green pasture. Except this lamb is sheep in the most despicable of wolves’ clothing. To be aligned with something literally means to be arranged in a straight line. When someone invites you to be aligned with them, they think they are saying, “let’s be on the same side,” “let’s have a shared perspective,” or “let’s not seem like we’re in disagreement here.” All of those meanings sound good — we are teammates, we collaborate, we know how to work across silos! But none of them are what people really mean when, in an interdepartmental meeting someone says, “We need to make sure that we’re in alignment on this.”
What they truly mean is, “I’ve listened to you blather on long enough. You are wrong and I am right and you need to start pretending that you agree with me or we’re going to have real problems here”.
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