Story 24: Comfortable
The story: They agreed to keep the office comfortable for everyone. Then she said it was freezing. He said 18°C is ideal. She was cold. He had a number. Both were right about the same room. The agreement was genuine. The standard was personal.
What it means for organisations: Comfortable for everyone is a collection of preferences wearing the shape of a policy. It goes further than thermostats: pace, tone, meeting length, how much notice counts as enough. Each of those has a setting that suits someone and costs someone else, so an agreement to make things comfortable is not a decision about the room. It is a decision nobody has made yet about whose baseline the room is set to.
Where next?
Read the comic as text
The Alignment Gap, Story 24
by Stavros Stavru, Ph.D. (weallagreed.com)
Scene 1: The office
A bright office with windows onto the city, a hanging lamp, a bookshelf, plants, and framed pictures. Axel and Ally sit at neighboring desks, each with a laptop. Axel turns toward Ally with a friendly smile, and she smiles back.
Axel: Can we agree to keep the office comfortable for everyone?
Ally: Of course!
Banner between scenes: “What could go wrong?”
Scene 2: The office, later
The same office. An air conditioner on the wall blasts cold air, and a thermometer shows the temperature. Ally stands with her arms crossed, shivering. Axel stands relaxed with his hands in his pockets, smiling.
Ally: It's freezing in here!
Axel: Freezing? It's 18°C – ideal comfort!
Share this story: LinkedIn ↗
