Four Ways Goal Alignment Creates Great Leverage

Recently I wanted to remove some concrete footings from the property of my boyhood farm home. On the surface these slabs averaged 2-3 feet across and about 8 feet wide. This surface area may not seem very large, but because they had been built to carry the weight of a very large tank I knew they were deep. I just didn't know how deep.

I arranged for someone to come with a backhoe and loader to dig and roll them out, so I could pull them with a tractor to a space at the back of the property, out of the way.

Along with (eventually) reaching my goal, this every day task gave me a major reminder of the power of alignment, and how the alignment of our work to a clearly stated goal creates the leverage to actually reach the goal with as little effort as possible.

The size of the challenge we faced became clearer as we began to see the size of the concrete pieces. Without going into all the minute details, imagine a solid piece of concrete the size of several large refrigerators! Once we unearthed the first one, we hooked it to a chain and began to pull it with my tractor.

I got about three feet, and was unable to pull it any farther.

Next, we moved the loader in front of my tractor and connected us together: loader . . . tractor . . . concrete. With this processional we were able to slowly but surely move one, then two, then three blocks to their final resting place. Of the eight total blocks we unearthed, five required this alignment of men, machine and strength in order to complete the task.

While I have just condensed a five hour process (that we initially thought might take two hours at most) into a couple hundred words, hopefully it provides a context and a metaphor for our organizational working lives and why leaders must consciously work to build alignment around our goals because when we don't performance and productivity can fall far short of what is desired.

The Four Ways

Here are four important ways alignment of work creates the leverage required for higher performance and goal achievement.

Strength in numbers. I couldn't move some of the blocks by myself, the loader was required. But the loader only helped if we pulled in the same direction. We operate our organizations in groups. Organizations are complex and require a variety of skills. Organizations also are sizable; no one person can do it all. This is an obvious statement, but leads to the first key to leverage. When we amass all of our force on a task or work output we can finish more quickly; but only if everyone is truly working together. Strength in numbers is reduced or even negated if all effort isn't focused in the same direction.

Momentum is maximized. Once we started to pull the block, even with all of its weight and resistance, the task got easier. In fact, at times, once we got going, it seemed like I could almost pull it without the loader's help. Momentum is an amazing thing for our work. Often getting started (whether a new product, an organization-wide project or even a process improvement for your team) is the hardest part. To launch successfully we need to truly get everyone on the same page, then the launch will be achieved and the work will become somewhat easier, due to momentum.

Friction is reduced. I certainly had friction as the several thousand pound mass of concrete moved along the ground. Imagine if the loader drive felt there was a better destination that had previously been determined and tried to go in a different direction than I went. The friction and tension in the system would have been huge! Often teams (or individuals on teams) find themselves in a virtual tug of war, pulling on opposite ends of the rope, creating significant effort, but no real progress towards the goal. When the goal is clear and everyone pulls in the same direction, friction is reduced.

Effort is multiplied. There's no question that both of us working on this project were working hard, but it wasn't until we worked together that we made the most progress. I could have continued to try to move the concrete while the loader unearthed the other pieces - after all that was his job. But it required flexibility and a clear understanding of the full goal to truly succeed. (Believe me, an unmoved pile of unearthed concrete in the yard would have been far worse than where they were to begin with!) When we worked together the results of our efforts were multiplied. Far too often team and individual performance is judged incorrectly, or at least incompletely. In order to accurately define performance it must be done in the context of the larger organizational perspective. Alignment to organizational goals must be considered as a part of the performance equation. Stated another way, effort isn't enough; it's accomplishment that is the real measure of success.

Potential Pointer: Having people working hard is the goal of many leaders; but it is the wrong measure. The right goal is people working towards predefined goals in concert and alignment. When we can create clear alignment, and people act on it, more results will be accomplished more quickly with less effort and more energy.