Story 05: Productivity
The story: They agreed to boost productivity. Two weeks later one had a towering stack of finished tasks. The other had one piece of work, done exceptionally well. Same word, two definitions of success. Neither was wrong by their own measure. Both were surprised by the other's.
What it means for organisations: The dangerous misalignments are rarely about what to do. They are about what counts as done well. Two people can execute perfectly against different definitions of the same goal, and the better each one performs, the further apart the results end up. Nobody finds out until the work lands on the same desk.
Where next?
Read the comic as text
The Alignment Gap, Story 5
by Stavros Stavru, Ph.D. (weallagreed.com)
Scene 1: The office hallway
A bright office corridor with doors, framed pictures, and potted plants. Axel and Ally walk side by side. Axel carries a clipboard and smiles eagerly. Ally holds a folder against her chest, smiling too.
Axel: Perfect! Let's boost our productivity.
Banner between scenes: “What could go wrong?”
Scene 2: Two weeks later
At a desk with a laptop and a shelf behind it. Next to Axel stands a tall stack of four binders, each marked with a checkmark. Axel scratches his head, puzzled, gesturing at the pile. Across the desk, Ally points calmly to a single binder marked with a star.
Axel: I'm confused. I thought productivity meant more work!
Ally: But isn't it delivering valuable work, not just more?
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