Story 21: Shorter
The story: They agreed to shorten meetings. He crammed five topics into thirty minutes. Efficiency, he said. She pushed back: focus is what keeps a meeting short. They had agreed on the symptom and never on the cause. He thought meetings ran long because they moved too slowly. She thought they ran long because they covered too much.
What it means for organisations: Everyone can see that a thing is broken without anyone saying why. Meetings, reporting, handovers: the complaint is shared, the diagnosis is private, and the fix follows the diagnosis. So a team can agree unanimously that something must change and then change it in two incompatible directions, both of which are faithful to the agreement. Fixing the symptom is the part that feels like progress.
Where next?
Read the comic as text
The Alignment Gap, Story 21
by Stavros Stavru, Ph.D. (weallagreed.com)
Scene 1: The TODO board
An empty office with a whiteboard on an easel, plants, and shelves. The whiteboard reads "Team TODOs:" with the first three items crossed out: "1. Send weekly reports," "2. Update task statuses," "3. Reply to all emails." An arrow points to the next one: "4. Shorten meetings." Below it, "5. …" No one is present, and no one speaks.
Banner between scenes: “What could go wrong?”
Scene 2: The office
A bright office with tall windows, plants, a desk, and a bookshelf. Ally stands looking doubtful. Axel faces her with open hands, smiling confidently.
Ally: Five topics in half an hour?
Axel: Efficiency keeps it short!
Ally: No – focus keeps it short!
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