Story 06: Our Favourite Restaurant
The story: They agreed on dinner at their favourite restaurant. The damage was in the word "our." Each of them assumed there was a shared favourite. There was not. She booked Italian. He booked sushi. Both were already on the train when they found out.
What it means for organisations: Shared history creates the strongest assumption of shared understanding, and the weakest reason to check. Every organisation is full of "ours" that each person has quietly personalised: our standards, our way of doing things, our priorities. Nobody personalised them on purpose. Everyone was just there for different parts of it.
Where next?
Read the comic as text
The Alignment Gap, Story 6
by Stavros Stavru, Ph.D. (weallagreed.com)
Scene 1: The office lobby
A modern office lobby with a reception desk, a potted plant, a sofa, and tall windows looking out on the city skyline. Axel, briefcase in hand, is heading out and gestures warmly toward Ally, who stands holding a folder and smiles back.
Axel: Sure! Let's have dinner at our favourite restaurant.
Banner between scenes: “What could go wrong?”
Scene 2: Later this evening
A split scene divided by a wavy line. Ally sits on a subway train, chatting happily on her phone as the city passes by the windows. Elsewhere, Axel stands on his phone, looking startled, one hand thrown out in surprise.
Ally: I booked a table at Trattoria Da Giulia.
Axel: Wait! I booked one at Sakura Sushi…
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