14. Reinforcing Alignment

After work, Quinn drove Alex to his favorite local restaurant, a chic place called “Casbah.” Once they were back in Alex’s neighborhood, Quinn strolled and Alex hobbled through Frick Park, just around the corner from Alex’s house.

Alex got to the point. “I have to deal with Nate. I think I knew from the beginning that this was coming. How do I do the right thing?” The men walked and talked about the situation with Nate.

After a while Quinn steered the conversation in another direction. “Alex, I wish I could tell you Nate is the only problem you have, or that you will ever face, on your journey to a Greater Goal. Hidden in your company are forces that will undermine the hard-fought alignment you have gained. Every company culture has built-in rewards that work in opposition to alignment to the Greater Goal. Identifying and defusing this opposition is critical to achieving ongoing alignment.” He pulled a small card from his back pocket and handed it to Alex. Upon unfolding it, Alex looked upon another hand-drawn star with a new practice added.

“Reinforce alignment? What does that mean?”

“Let’s rest your leg for a moment. Grab a bench. Alex, dozens of hidden forces can pull people out of alignment. If you learn to spot and counter these forces, you can reinforce alignment to the Greater Goal. I can offer you some perspectives, like lenses, for you to see these forces. The first lens is this: people will align to what they really value, really treasure. Many people in the company genuinely value the Greater Goal, but day-to-day pressure from other rewards will compete for their hearts.”

“For instance?”

“Hidden rewards are right now reinforcing behavior not aimed at the Greater Goal. There are rewards for activity instead of achievement, rewards for playing it safe versus taking risk and innovating, rewards for competition versus collaboration, rewards for taking credit versus giving credit, rewards for accomplishing easy goals versus stretching for breakthrough goals, and many others.” Alex nodded his understanding, and Quinn went on.

“You also have to learn to see through the ‘culture lens.’ Culture is real, you know. Like the wind, you can’t see it, but you can see its effects. The culture of the company can push people out of alignment when it reinforces doing good things that are actually the enemy of great things. Here are some cultural values I’ve noted at Beckley that promote good over great.” Alex took notes as Quinn talked:

• Problem solvers are valued over opportunity seekers.

• “Make the bottom line” stands in the way of “invest for the long run.”

• “Leaders are the ones in charge” stands in the way of “leadership is a team sport.”

• “We need to recruit the best talent” stands in the way of “we need systems that help our current talent perform at their very best.”

“Shall I go on?” Quinn asked.

“Maybe a couple more. These are great though, Quinn. I see how the short-term good gets in the way of the possibility for long-term great.”

“Here’s one more cultural element that I have heard expressed at Beckley,” Quinn said. “It is ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it here’ versus ‘let’s try a new approach.’”

“Ouch. I’ve used that first expression myself. But isn’t ‘the way we have always done it’ building on the success of the past? And that’s a good thing, right?”

“Yes, Alex, but only if that way continues to be validated by a thorough after-action review. If a process and its results are consistent with your values and prove to be truly useful in achieving your Greater Goal, then definitely do more of that.”

“I’ve got the rewards and culture lenses. Do you have a third lens?”

“Indeed I do,” Quinn responded. “Turf. Turf is the greatest opponent of alignment to the Greater Goal. Turf is in effect when you hear ‘my department, my team, my budget’ and a win-lose outcome is tolerated.” Quinn looked up with a smile. “It’s as silly as saying, ‘I’m glad it’s your half of the boat that’s sinking!’ Alex, you have a good bit of turf in your company.”

“You really know how to encourage a guy, don’t you, Quinn?” Alex asked as he began to rise on his crutches.

“Yes, I want to encourage you—that is, to help you to find the ‘courage’ needed to contend with the opponents of alignment,” said Quinn.

“Okay then, coach, where do we start?”

“Where do you see the most pervasive barriers to alignment, Alex, based on what we’ve gone over?”

“I guess I’d start with the serious turf issues.” Alex stood, stumbled, and flailed to regain his balance.

Quinn continued, “You started to tackle turf by asking the entire company to create shared goals. Now that change is underway, you can continue the momentum by decisively defeating the ‘Turf Monster’ in an important area. Pick one of the projects you brainstormed about during our Greater Goal Coaching session. Help your people win the turf war.”

“No question,” Alex quickly responded. “I’d pick new product development. We discussed how crucial it was and how little progress we’ve made. New product development includes early market research, engineering, manufacturing, sales and marketing, and customer feedback. It’s a full cycle. Since I arrived at Beckley, the new-product-development process has been a bitter battle of finger-pointing and a lot of ‘us versus them’ and ‘it’s their fault.’”

“That’s the Turf Monster, for sure. So,” Quinn challenged, “how would you realign those silos you just named?”

Alex stopped walking and hung on his crutches. “You are asking me? Well, I guess I would draw a completely new boundary around all the silos and put in place a multifunctional team. I’d include them all—research and development, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and sales, all together. If I could dream big, I’d put them all together in their own physical space, wrap them around an important new project, and challenge them to make it work.”

“Do it,” Quinn said. “Do you have a product in mind now?”

“Actually, I do!” Alex said, looking down at his own busted leg. “It’s a product I have a stake in. Quinn, I need to regrow bone. Stuck somewhere in our pipeline is a product that could help me. We call it the ‘Bone OSA Stimulator,’ or ‘BOS’ for short.”

“Why do you guys have so many acronyms?” Quinn laughed out loud. “Everything is a TLA with you guys.”

“What’s that?” It was Alex’s turn to be confused.

“TLA is a three-letter acronym that stands for … ‘Three-Letter Acronym,’” Quinn said, and laughed at his own joke. “Do just what you have in your mind.”

They walked back to Alex’s house and sat in rocking chairs on his wide front porch. He and Quinn sketched out a plan. In the growing twilight, neighbors saw two gentlemen waving their arms, painting a picture that only they could see.

The next day, Alex and his HR vice president, Matt Joachim, met with Nate in Alex’s office. As soon as they had settled into chairs, Alex got to the point.

“Nate, we’re friends, and I respect you and appreciate all that you’ve done for me and for Beckley. But you’ve made it clear that you don’t agree with what’s going on here as of late.”

Nate shook his head. “Not entirely.”

“I’d like you to take a few days off to think about what you really want, where this company is headed, and whether you want to be a part of that.”

Nate’s eyebrows rose. “That sounds fatal.”

“Not fatal. But this is a choice point,” Alex said.

“I see,” Nate said. “In that case, I’ll see you next Monday. Have a good week, gentlemen.”

That afternoon, Alex gathered the senior team in the conference room. Dan Meyers heard about the meeting and invited himself. Unusual for Dan to be here, Alex thought. Is this another test? Alex pushed the negative thought out of his head and addressed his colleagues.

“Let’s get going. Nate is taking off the rest of the week on a personal matter.”

Questioning looks appeared around the room, but the truth was that no one was surprised. Alex called them to task. “I know we’re all pretty excited about the alignment that we see emerging around the company, but I suggest there are reward, cultural, and turf forces at work in the company that can sabotage our alignment. Let’s talk about all of that honestly.”

There were a lot of nods around the table, so Alex pressed on. “Why don’t we name some of the opponents to alignment together and create an action plan to address them.” The team proceeded to brainstorm a list.

Opponents of Alignment to Our Greater Goal

And the last action item, which they all agreed to, was “We are going to continue to find and defeat the other hidden opponents of alignment in our company.”

At this point, Quinn’s head was cocked down and he was doodling, half listening to the tail end of the conversation and half concentrating on his drawing. Alex snuck a look.

Quinn flipped the card over. On the back was this:

Alex smiled and then moved to his idea for a new-product-development “venture team.” Alex suggested that the cross-functional team be formed under Mikala Whales. The venture team was chartered, and Mikala quickly recruited members from across the functions of research and development, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, sales, human resources, and finance.

The group was cross-functional, determined, and ready to roll by the end of the week.

When Nate arrived at work the following Monday morning, he handed Alex a letter of resignation. “You are right, this isn’t for me,” he said.

“Thank you, Nate,” he said, “for your courage.”

“It doesn’t take much courage to jump from a burning ship. Good luck, Alex.”

Mikala and the new-product-development venture team immediately moved into an unused space on the Beckley campus. A colorful flag, like the kind climbers plant after a successful summit assault, appeared immediately on the floor. It was a sign of the adventure going on inside and of great things to come. At the end of the week, Mikala sent Alex an e-mail with a cryptic subject line: “10× then 100× in Pursuit of the Greater Goal.”

“Can you explain, face to face?” Alex wrote back.

Within minutes she was explaining the formula in person to Alex. “We hope to hit project milestones at ten times the speed of previous teams. We want to have one hundred times more impact on customers than any previous project. We are aiming at ‘10× then 100×.’”

“Okay then. Wow!” Alex said.

“We know we will get there,” Mikala responded with a mischievous grin. “This is us,” she said and then mimicked a Quinn drawing on Alex’s whiteboard.

“Keep me updated. Let me help with barrier busting and bridge building if I can,” said Alex. “I am working on my Greater Goal Coaching skills and sponsorship role.”

The next person in Alex’s office was Quinn. He spotted Mikala’s drawing on the whiteboard. “Nice! You see, my doodles are catching on. Are you ready for more Greater Goal Coaching?”

“Absolutely.” Just then Kevin Jordan stuck his head in. Seeing Quinn in the room, he said, “Sorry to interrupt,” and started to back out.

“Oh, no, join us.” Alex waved him in. “We are just doing some reflecting. It’s a ‘coaching’ thing,” he said, using his fingers to make quotation marks. “Ha!”

“I’d be glad to. Sort of like reviewing game film?”

“Yes, it is—game film review,” said Quinn.

Alex turned serious and started the conversation. “Before we actually dig in, gentlemen, I just want to say thank you both for conspiring together for my second chance. I figured it out—you plotted together to help me.”

“You’re welcome,” Quinn and Kevin responded together. “Truth be told,” Kevin continued, “it was your father who recruited us to help you if you ever made it back to Beckley.”

“But he didn’t know I would even come back.”

“He had hopes,” Quinn assured him. “And he planned for your return.” Quinn chose the moment to return to Greater Goal Coaching. “So, Kevin, Alex and I have been doing some reflecting on the opponents of alignment. I was just getting ready to ask Alex how he, himself, may have contributed to the lack of alignment. What has become clearer to you, Alex?”

Alex chuckled to himself and admitted, “In the words of one of my Air Force Academy friends, before my accident I was ‘all thrust and no rudder.’ I pushed with high expectations and high pressure. Now I’m relying on alignment to the Greater Goal to unleash and direct more energy than I could have summoned with my command-and-control leadership.”

Kevin jumped in, “Gee, that reminds me of my last Super Bowl season.”

Alex and Quinn both groaned together in good humor. “Not another Super Bowl story!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll let you off this one time,” Kevin remitted. “Still, alignment, team spirit, and dedication are familiar to me. Shared leadership, what we call ‘serving leadership,’ is what it takes to win championships. See the similarity?” Kevin asked Alex.

“Well, actually I do. Shared goals and shared leadership help teams form across functional lines. Not unlike a great sports team. I see that overfocusing on individual goals actually drove down overall performance—‘goals gone wild.’ Shared goals tied to good strategies and well-designed initiatives enable company-wide performance.”

The three men continued talking for another hour. Finally, Alex’s assistant walked in with her hands on her hips to announce, “Alex, and the rest of you, you’ve gone way over on time. You’ve got another meeting.”

Getting ready for bed late that evening, Alex noticed that something was different about his room. Someone had changed the sheets and placed a new quilt on his bed. He looked closer. There was also a note on his pillow—in Rachel’s handwriting:

Tomorrow is cooking night–be ready!
I love you, Dad,
Rachel