Story 15: Growth
The story: The team's top priority was professional growth. She booked pottery classes during work hours, arguing that creativity feeds problem solving. He had meant certifications, courses, hard skills. Not clay. Both had committed to growth. Neither had said what growing looked like for their actual jobs.
What it means for organisations: Professional growth is a priority almost every team agrees on and almost none of them defines. The word stays comfortable as long as it stays a value. It only becomes an argument when someone spends something on it: an afternoon, a budget line, a recurring slot in the calendar. That is the pattern with soft priorities generally. They cost nothing to agree on, which is why nobody examines them until the invoice arrives.
Where next?
Read the comic as text
The Alignment Gap, Story 15
by Stavros Stavru, Ph.D. (weallagreed.com)
Scene 1: The office
A bright open office with big windows onto the city, pendant lamps, plants, and a bookshelf. A yellow poster on the wall reads "Team top priority this month: PROFESSIONAL GROWTH." Ally and Axel sit at a shared desk, each working on a laptop, both looking content. No one speaks.
Banner between scenes: “What could go wrong?”
Scene 2: The office kitchen
A kitchen with a coffee machine, shelves of mugs and tea tins, bar stools, and plants. Axel holds a cup, looking baffled and gesturing at Ally. Ally stands with a cup in one hand and the other on her hip, smiling confidently.
Axel: Pottery classes during work hours?
Ally: That's growth! Creativity boost problem solving.
Axel: I meant certifications, not clay!
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