Alignment is the New Speed

We ran a webcast discussion yesterday on the “Blind Spots” in business operations that impact efficency, effecfiveness and financial performance.

It was pure serendipity that I read Stephen Kelly’s assertion that “Alignment is the New Speed” on the same day.

It resonated!

It is a brief, but powerful, read.

I often quote and refer to articles I have read, but I can’t remember a time where I have incorporated the majority of the narrative of the referenced article! 

This one is different.

There is no better argument for end-to-end process alignment across the business.

Breaking down the silos drives efficiency and effectiveness, and, yes, speed!

“Silo thinking” in our business operations may reinforce our “illusion of control” and false sense of security about “efficiency”, but it is an insidious rot.

Stephen Kelly is a CEO who has been recognised widely, not least as ‘Mentor of the Year’, former Chair at Tech Nation, the first Chief Operating Officer for UK Government (2011-14) and Prime Minister’s Business Ambassador for Technology (2015-19). He is also Chair of the UK Science & Technology Honours Committee.   

He writes . .

“We have worshipped at the altar of speed. “Move fast and break things” became the de facto mantra”.

The logic was simple: if you aren’t sprinting, you’re dying.

But raw speed is overrated. If you have 1,000 people running at 100mph in slightly different directions, you don’t have speed. You have chaos, friction, and ultimately, you have burnout.

Stephen argues that “true speed, the kind that delivers sustainable growth and market leadership, doesn’t come from frenetic activity. It comes from alignment.”

Speed without alignment is just chaos.

End-to-end alignment means that decisions are made faster. Redundancy disappears. The organization moves as a single, cohesive unit.

A recent study found that highly aligned companies grow revenue 58% faster and are 72% more profitable than their misaligned counterparts. This isn’t just a “soft skill” issue; it’s a hard business metric.

Stephen suggests 4 key shifts to move from chaos to alignment;

1. Over-communicate the “WHY”, Purpose.
2. Ruthless Prioritization: Alignment means saying “no” to good ideas so you can say “yes” to great ones.
3. Connect daily work to big goals: Everyone should be able to draw a straight line between their daily tasks and the company’s annual objectives.
4. Use ‘End state planning’ with a methodology like Marc Benioff V2MOM to set Vision, values, end points and strategies to connect flawless execution.

Don’t confuse activity with progress.

Alignment is the new speed.

You can read Stephen’s article “Alignment is the new speed” here . . . 

Alignment is the New Speed.

Thanks for reading . .