Last year, I took my new BMW 335i into the shop to have an upgraded suspension installed.

Why would you throw out the brand new suspension of a BMW and replace it with a new one? Because I was not satisfied with the handling and performance.

The experience provided many interesting lessons for leaders interested in improving the performance of their organizations.

First, a suspension, like an organization, is an integrated system, comprised of dozens of interrelated components. You can’t change one component of the suspension (like the shock absorbers) without impacting all of the other components. Likewise, you can’t change one component of an organization (like compensation) without impacting all of the other components.

Second, a suspension, like an organization, is architected and engineered to accomplish a specific purpose. My BMW is my daily driver, not a race car. Thus, the suspension package I selected was designed to dramatically improve handling and agility while maintaining a reasonable ride quality. Likewise, organizations are architected and engineered to execute a specific strategy. As we always say, strategy precedes structure.

Third, a suspension, like an organization, must be aligned. Interestingly, my brand new BMW was significantly out of alignment. Once the new suspension was installed, the car was re-aligned … and the results were amazing.

The car now performs with what I call, “Aligned Agility.”

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

A long time ago, someone introduced me to the phrase, “both and.” This is something the grammarians call “paired conjunctions.”

So, what does that have to do with building high-performance organizations? More than you might think.

Regular readers of this blog know that we are passionate about organizational alignment. However, in today’s turbulent world, it is essential to build an organization that is both aligned and agile.

At first, these may seem like contradictory objectives.

You might think that agility requires loose, unstructured, self directed units. However, while this approach can allow a small percentage of the organization to react, over time, it creates a loose federation of disconnected silos.

In contrast, organizations who build the discipline of alignment into their culture are actually more agile than their unstructured counterparts. When new opportunities or threats arise, highly aligned organizations can redirect the entire organization to respond in force. They can reprioritize goals, reallocate resources, and reap the rewards of market domination.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

Recently, I was interviewed by Marcia Moran from an exciting new publication called Modern DC Business. Here are some of the highlights:

How do you create a high performing organization? It’s a question leaders face day-in and day-out, and all too frequently fall short when it comes to execution. Dave Ramos, Founder and CEO of The Dashboard Group, believes lack of alignment frequently lies at the core of underperformance. While the concept of alignment may seem simple, achieving it is not.

“You have to deal with the elephant in the room,” observes Ramos. “Even in organizations that recognize there’s a problem, fixing it can be painful. For example, it might require you to deal with long-standing dysfunctional interpersonal relationships that have penetrated the organizational culture.”

Misalignment stems from systemic problems that cut across functions, divisions or systems. For example, the CEO says employees are the company’s most valuable resource… but the organization lacks systems to grow talent or reward outstanding performance. Or perhaps the sales, marketing, and product development teams view the world differently and strive to achieve excellence—but not from the same context.

You can read the rest of the article here: http://www.moderndcbusiness.com/the-dashboard-group-aligns-companies-for-high-performance.html

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

My car is a twin turbocharged BMW.

In case you don’t have a degree in automotive engineering, let me explain how a turbocharger works.

In a normal engine, gasoline is mixed with air and is then ignited by the spark plug to produce power. The hot gasses left over from this process simply flow out the exhaust pipes into the environment.

A turbocharger is a small device that looks like a fan. It “recycles” the hot exhaust gasses from the engine and forces them back into the engine. It turns what would otherwise be wasted into additional horsepower.

In many ways, this is what organizational alignment does. It takes energy from an organization that might otherwise be wasted and turns it into power to accelerate growth and improve profitability.

Alignment is a hidden and often overlooked source of power. In fact, most organizations are not even aware of how misaligned they really are.

However, once you start the alignment process, results begin to flow. Policies become aligned with priorities. People become aligned with the strategy. Pricing becomes aligned with the market. Behaviors become aligned with the culture. And the cumulative effect of this alignment is an adrenaline-producing rush.

Which is exactly what happens when I “step on it” in my BMW.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

Alignment is the optimal state where all elements of an organization – vision, values, strategy, people, and processes are aligned with each other to achieve optimal results. Executives walk the talk. Customer commitments are met. Nobody drops the ball.

Peter Drucker says, “The task of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths, making our weaknesses irrelevant.”

Jim Collins shares this sentiment, “There is a big difference between being an organization with a vision statement and becoming a truly visionary organization. The difference lies in creating alignment – alignment to preserve an organization’s core values, to reinforce its purpose, and to stimulate continued progress towards its aspirations.”

But the fact is, aligning an organization is really hard work. It takes unbelievable management discipline and commitment. It takes an unselfish team willing to put “we before me.”

Over thirty years of research has shown that, quite simply, aligned organizations out perform their competitors by every major financial measure.

The most interesting concept is the relationship between alignment and growth. More on that next week.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.