Over time, companies sub-optimize their growth opportunities due to misalignments. Misalignments occur at two different levels: first, misalignment with the market, where the company’s offerings are no longer relevant or competitive and second, misalignment within the organization; where the company struggles to get things done superfluously.
Misalignments occur at varying degrees; from losing market share to becoming completely irrelevant or from light misalignment where a few non-critical deadlines are missed periodically, to chronic misalignment which alters the core culture of the organization.
Misalignments in organizations are characterized by declining business performance, increased coordination problems across units, dropping individual initiative and motivation levels, delays in delivering on projects and deadlines, reduce productivity, management meetings are long and inconclusive, employees new and old are unclear of the company’s mission & objectives. In short, the company feels that it’s losing competitive spirit and business advantage that made them great before.
This misalignment is only natural in companies as they grow over time. Some symptoms of misalignment include: execution problems are not dealt with immediately, the company loses its business focus, decision making becomes slower, does not innovate as much, the team is out of touch with its customers and isn’t stepping up to challenging opportunities or becomes complacent.
The bigger challenge facing companies now is that the misalignment has to be corrected in a highly fluctuating business environment; a result of innovative technology, challenger startups, changing customer behaviors, regulations and climate change. All these factors have a significant and simultaneous impact on the business environment. Fortunately, none of the conditions above are terminal and a quick action can bring about a remarkable turnaround.
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