The strategy conversation you can only have here
The test is simple.
Wake up anyone in your organisation at 3am and ask them to describe the strategy.
If the reply is let me grab the strategy doc from the last planning session, then you have failed. You also fail if their answer doesn’t match your answer, or they cannot name the single priority driving the delivery of the strategy this quarter or this year.
The challenge we all have in organisations that grow is getting everybody aligned.
Aligned means more than just all being told the same information.
It is also more than just a meeting where everyone agrees.
It means that everyone is moving together in a coordinated way.
Aligned means that we can look around the organisation and understand how the different roles all fit together and contribute to the overall direction.
There is a sense of coherence, of congruence and synchronisation that is recognisable by most people. Dysfunction is actively managed out and replaced with purpose.
Getting alignment within an organisation is a process, not an event.
It requires careful thought, intention and creativity to engage people meaningfully.
It is work that is worth doing because when you have alignment you look more like that a synchronised swimming team than the under-10 soccer team.
And the 3am test is how you check whether you have alignment.