Alignment Is Not Clarity

There is a lot of talk about alignment, exchange, involvement, and shared direction. It sounds modern and cooperative. But sometimes it is used to mask the fact that nobody wants to state definitively what actually counts.

Alignment sounds collegial. It distributes the weight of a difficult decision across the group and avoids the moment where someone has to say: 'This is in, that is out.' Diffuse agreement is more comfortable than clear decision-making.

A definitive statement about priorities, responsibilities, and boundaries. Clarity isn't always pleasant, but without it, collaboration remains vague.

Put one priority in writing: 'For the next two weeks, X is more important than Y.'