Good Alignment is as Rare as Good Strategy. Quelle surprise !

Many of us are returning from travel mode, so let’s imagine a simple scenario where we’re planning a road trip among colleagues, with ?? Team Red and ?? Team Green each in a separate car.

So here's the objective: Both teams are supposed to go on a fun road trip together.

However, because they haven't aligned on (what I call) “Start-Set-Go”, so it’s going to be chaos – and not in a good way.

Before we hit the road, let's quickly talk about “Start-Set-Go”. It’s really simple:

• START is where you agree on the starting point, the status quo
• SET is where you agree on the destination, the objectives, the ambitions
• GO is where you agree on how to get from your starting point to your destination

As obvious as these three points may sound, it’s amazing how many teams and their leaders fail to get these agreements in place before going into “execution mode” and expending huge amounts of resources!

As we'll see, being misaligned on just one of these points is practically a guarantee that you won’t reach your objectives.

No wonder most strategies fail.

But let’s get back to the road trip to illustrate…

Road trip

1. START - Agree on Current Location

• ?? Team Red: They assume everyone is starting from the city centre, where their office is located.
• ?? Team Green: They believe everyone is starting from their homes, which are spread out in different suburbs.

So what happens?

On the day of the trip, obviously, ?? Team Red eagerly gathers at the city centre, engine revving, while ?? Team Green is still stuck in morning traffic picking everyone up and trying to reach the city centre.

The frustration mounts as the minutes tick by. The hope of an early start fades away among the exhaust fumes.

The teams waste precious time coordinating a new meeting point somewhere on the edge of town.

OK, well at least everyone is now starting from the same point.

Now that both teams are finally on the road, you'd think the worst is over. But what happens when they realise they haven't agreed on the destination?

2. SET - Agree on the Destination

• ?? Team Red: They’ve set their sights on a quiet beach town two hours west; it’ll be perfect for some relaxation.
• ?? Team Green: They’re excited about a mountain retreat two hours south, ideal for hiking and adventure.

Guess what happens…

Both teams hit the road, then they realise after an hour that they’re headed in different directions.

One car has taken the motorway west, while the others are heading south. This basic misalignment not only wastes fuel and time, but also causes confusion as the teams debate which destination to pick.

After much arguing, and a long detour for Team Red, they agree to head to the mountains.

3. GO - Agree on the Best Route

• ?? Team Red: They prefer the scenic coastal route, which takes a bit longer but offers beautiful views.
• ?? Team Green: They’re on a tighter budget, so they're more focused on fuel efficiency. They pick the fastest route via a toll-free motorway, which bypasses the scenic areas.

So what goes wrong now?

Even once both teams have eventually agreed on a single destination (the mountains), their disagreement on the route creates further complications.

?? Team Green arrive much earlier, but feeling uninspired by the lack of scenery.

Meanwhile, ?? Team Red arrive later, having enjoyed the views but feeling guilty for making others wait.

The difference in arrival times also messes up the group’s dinner options.

It’s obvious what went wrong here, not once but three times:

Because ?? Team Red and ?? Team Green didn’t align on all three points of "Start-Set-Go", their road trip was filled with unnecessary delays, confusion and frustration.

What should have been a fun journey turned into a logistical nightmare, simply because they didn’t take the time to ensure everyone was on the same page.

?? There’s an obvious lesson for teams here:

Even when people are pressuring you to “just get moving,” it’s incredibly important for you to pause and all agree on:

1. Your starting point,
2. Your destination, and
3. Your route

before embarking on any journey — whether it's a road trip or… a business strategy!

Hence the easy-to-remember, three words “Start-Set-Go”.

Without alignment on all three, even the best-sounding plans go all over the place, leading to mis-spent resources, time, morale, careers…

Now, let’s switch gears and look at this concept in a business setting, where the two same teams are trying to create and launch a new solution together.

Product innovation

Objective: Both teams (?? Team Red and ?? Team Green) are tasked with launching a new product line, aimed at turning around their big company’s declining market share.

However, the sense of urgency, coupled with their stakeholders’ lack of patience, means they haven’t aligned on the "Start-Set-Go" framework.

?? “Let’s not sit around debating. We need to get moving!” Someone probably said.

1. START - Agree on the Current State

• ?? Team Red: They see the company’s current products are outdated and uninspiring to? customers. To them, some kind of radical overhaul is needed. They want to see the company focus on a more modern design and incorporate some trendy new technologies.
• ?? Team Green: They feel the existing products are still quite competitive, and they only need minor tweaks rather than a full redesign. So their primary focus is on how to improve what’s already working.

What’s wrong here?

Well, because the teams didn’t agree on the current state, their efforts are bound to be fragmented.

They’re not even aligned on the starting point, so they have conflicting ideas as to what problem needs to be solved.

?? Team Red begins spending resources on making radical changes.

?? Team Green focuses on tweaking the existing products.

This inevitably leads to two conflicting development processes, many arguments, wasted resources, lots and lots of meetings, and an inconsistent product strategy.

The end result is certain to be a disjointed product line that accomplishes the impressive feat of harming the original product line, while also failing to meet market expectations with anything radically innovative.

2. SET - Agree on the Destination

Let’s assume now both teams have finally agreed on their current state, but don’t take the time to get aligned on their destination.

• ?? Team Red: They’re super ambitious and want to position the new product as the market leader from day 1, targeting high-end consumers with premium features and top-shelf pricing. They want to launch the iPhone-equivalent of their industry.
• ?? Team Green: They have more tempered ambitions and hope to capture the mid-market segment by offering a cost-effective solution that balances quality with affordability.

New set of issues:

Without a common vision, their respective marketing and development efforts are pulling in different directions.

We can imagine the product launch ending up with mixed messaging, where some materials scream luxury and innovation (magnesium components, say), while others emphasise affordability and practicality (good old plastic!).

This confuses customers and weakens the brand’s positioning, to the point where nobody understands what the company is selling anymore. Ultimately sales can only disappoint.

3. GO - Agree on the Best Route

OK, so after much deliberation and vocal energy spent, the two teams have agreed on where they’re starting from AND where they need to go (let’s say they’ve agreed to target the high end of the market).

Now both teams go into “action mode” but again, without aligning:

• ?? Team Red: They believe in an aggressive go-to-market strategy, with an expensive, high-profile launch event and an omnichannel digital marketing campaign.
• ?? Team Green: They take a more conservative approach, preferring a phased rollout with pilot testing in select markets and a gradual increase in spending, before making a full launch.

Once again this creates a total mess:

Their lack of agreement on go-to-market results in a chaotic launch.

?? Team Red pushes forward with a major launch event that’s not fully supported by the company’s operational readiness. We can imagine this leading to supply chain issues, employee confusion, customer dissatisfaction…

Meanwhile, ?? Team Green’s cautious approach causes delays in reaching key markets, so the company misses out on critical commercial opportunities.

At the project post mortem, Teams ?? Red and ?? Green point the finger at each other, reinforcing a culture of mistrust.

?? Ironically, the same culture of mistrust that prevented the teams from aligning together in the first place.

Reflection

In this scenario, the lack of alignment between Team Red and Team Green on "Start-Set-Go" causes the product launch to fail – and not in a good way.

These are all “own goals”, internal issues that illustrate how companies shoot themselves in the foot when trying to innovate.

The problems we described, in product development, market positioning, go-to-market strategy etc, don’t just undermine the company’s strategic goals.

They’re also 100% internal and therefore mostly avoidable with some proper structure.

It’s the job of corporate leaders to facilitate alignment between teams. Which all forms part of a healthy culture, especially in a domain full of uncertainty like innovation.

?? The lesson here, I hope, is that successful strategy requires alignment at each stage.

?? Oh, so now we need more meetings?

No! The point is not to spend an eternity thinking, debating, analysing…

But a brief moment of alignment on these 3 points is essential, before going into execution mode.

I’ve found that aligning on the 3 points of "Start-Set-Go" to be a powerful tool to ensure that all teams, and team members, are aligned.

(And by the way, you can agree to disagree. You can disagree-and-commit – a topic for another day.)

But to recap, you need broad agreement on:

1. Where the company currently stands, (START)
2. Where it aims to go, (SET) and?
3. How it hopes to get there (GO)

These are the 3 most basic components of any consistent strategy.

Don’t get me wrong: We’re all allowed to make mistakes, to recalibrate and to change course along the way.

But without initial alignment, and realignment on a regular basis, even the most well-intentioned and well-funded initiatives lead to wasted resources, missed opportunities, and market failure.

This disappointment in turn creates disillusionment and cynicism.

It’s why companies give up on innovation; even on strategy in any meaningful sense.

So the next time you find yourself arguing about whether to take the scenic route or not, ask yourself whether everyone agrees not just on the destination, but even on your starting point!

?? Whenever you go anywhere, first ensure everyone is aligned on Start-Set-Go.

It might just save your next big project, or your entire innovation function, from cruising off the side of the road.

???This is my bi-weekly newsletter in which I share original insights and tips on building a healthy culture of innovation.

Subscribe to Culture for Lunch to get notified each time a new article is published (every other Tuesday).

?? Earlier this year we launched the Culturedge Podcast, in which we spoke to a diverse circle of experts on innovation culture inside and outside the corporate world.

We've just started recording Season 2! And we're still looking for a few guests to join us this summer.

Drop us an email at ?? [email protected] if you would like to nominate someone (or yourself!) as a potential guest ??

Happy reading and listening over lunch,

Stephen