How Elite Teams Become Aligned And Unbeatable.

Alignment is one of the rare attributes of truly world-class teams—and a true competitive advantage. The world may be volatile and uncertain, but dream team members know what their peers are working on, what goals are being activated; they know everyone is aligned on the same critical mission. By contrast, teams in siloed organizations are unaware of the challenges and needs of their peers so they maximize for their piece of the pie. Today, too many leaders make the mistake of thinking that all they need to do is point in a strategic direction, and teams across their organization will just fall into line. Alignment is not that simple.

What our research with the world's best teams over 20 years shows is that alignment happens when teams have done the hard work first. They have broken down silos and headed off narrow-minded competition for resources, they have embraced transparency and co-creation and shared ownership of results to creating value from their interdependencies. These are teams with extraordinary levels of commitment to agility, candor, peer-to-peer accountability, collaboration, and elevating each other as peers. In other words, alignment is one of the many prizes of what I call Teamship.

Introducing Teamship: The Key to Breakthrough Performance

As I describe in my forthcoming book, Never Lead Alone, Teamship is the ultimate competitive advantage, distinguishing the top 15% of teams from the rest. It's driven by:

1. Co-elevation: teammates co-leading and elevating each other to achieve world-class performance.
2. A shift from traditional working habits to inclusive 21st-century collaboration practices, processes, and tools that foster bolder innovation and faster decision-making.

What elite teams also realize is that alignment is never a one-and-done exercise. To sustain alignment, these teams employ a series of high-return teamship practices. These practices are simple, targeted tasks that, when repeated, dramatically increase a team's effectiveness and maintain their focus on shared goals and interdependencies.

A Teamship Practice for Sustained Alignment

One of the most powerful tools for achieving and maintaining alignment is a Teamship Practice called Alignment Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS). This practice helps teams identify areas of misalignment and resolve them using a structured approach. Here's how it works:

Start with Fundamental Questions: Begin by posing key questions about your team's mission and vision. These questions should be addressed one at a time, using a shared document for asynchronous input before any meeting takes place. Some essential questions include:

1. "What is our ultimate mission and what will our world and our customers' world look like when we get there?"
2. "What are the three most remarkable things that will be present when we are truly on our way to achieving our mission that are not present now?"
3. "What are the biggest items to attack, or the biggest hills we must take to achieve our North Star?"
4. "What blockers are most likely to derail us that we need to fortify around? And what are the suggestions to address each?"

Gather Asynchronous Input: Share these questions with your team and allow them to provide their thoughts and insights asynchronously. This ensures that everyone has a chance to contribute, regardless of time zones or schedules.

Analyze and Synthesize: Review the collected input and look for patterns, common themes, and areas of disagreement.

Hold a Focused Meeting: Use the gathered insights to structure a meeting where you can discuss and make decisions based on the collective input.

Implement Stress Testing: After decisions are made, regularly stress test your progress at the end of agile sprints. This involves presenting high-priority projects to the team for constructive criticism and support.

Use Decision Boards: For complex issues, use a shared document where team members can answer a series of critical questions in advance related to the agenda item. This helps to surface potential problems and innovative solutions before major decisions are made.

Iterate and Refine: The CPS process should be used iteratively, going deeper into specific areas as needed. Each session may uncover new topics that require further exploration.

By consistently applying this practice, teams can achieve a level of shared insight and alignment that spans the broadest relevant group of team members. It's not just about agreeing on a high-level mission — it's about aligning on the priorities and trade-offs needed to achieve that mission.

The Power of Alignment: Real-World Examples

Through our work, we’ve encountered high-impact teams that are driving extraordinary outcomes through their teamship and their alignment:

1. A Fortune 500 global consumer products firm: The CEO of a major division is leading his team to an unprecedented 40 quarters of growth by fostering deep emotional commitment and clear alignment under a single North Star. They implemented a personal accountability grid, transparently displaying team members' names against their quarterly commitments. This practice drove individual accountability and team cohesion, contributing to ongoing success.
2. One of the world's leading SaaS firms, also in the Fortune 500: The President and CRO empowers his senior leaders to collaboratively set sales quotas, fostering a culture of co-creation and shared accountability. This approach not only drives revenue growth but also strengthens team bonds and commitment to shared goals.
3. A $26 billion advanced manufacturing firm: The CEO transformed the company by implementing a new social contract of deep mutual respect, open sharing, and constant learning. This alignment-focused approach has positioned the firm as a leader in manufacturing innovation and growth.

The Future of Work is Aligned Teams

The shift from silos to alignment is rooted in a fundamental reimagining of how teams operate in the modern business world. By embracing Teamship and implementing practices like Alignment CPS, organizations can unlock unprecedented levels of innovation, agility, and performance.

In a world where change is the only constant, aligned teams are not just more effective—they're essential for survival and success. It's time to break down the silos and build a culture of alignment that can weather any storm and seize any opportunity. Are you ready to transform your team and achieve extraordinary results? The journey from silos to alignment starts now.

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