Align – The Word That Stops Progress
It’s 9 AM. Your calendar is already triple-booked, and there it is: ‘Alignment Workshop.’ A two-hour black hole where people who haven’t done their tasks explain why aligning is more important than delivering. You open your email and see a thread from yesterday afternoon about someone complaining about not being aligned and that headache you forgot about slowly returns. Sound familiar?
It might be an even bigger issue in Denmark (where we’re all based) because not only are alignment activities all over the place, it’s even being absorbed into Danish language. In Danish, we don’t just align. No, we ‘aligner’ jamming Danish suffixes onto English words to ensure maximum awkwardness. It’s linguistic vandalism, and it has to end!
The Danish version of align generally just means people need to agree or get on the same page, whereas the English version of the word also can mean correcting something, like removing a post from social media because it doesn’t align with the website’s values. That option of correcting something is rarely present in Danish organizations but probably should be.
The problem with “align” is that it sounds fancier than “agree.” Agreeing is boring. It’s what normal people do when they have discussions and move on. But aligning? Oh, no, that’s a whole process. You need meetings, workshops, Post-it notes, and possibly even a Miro board. Aligning takes time — time you could have spent actually working on the thing you were supposed to align on.
And let’s not forget the stealth power of “align” to mask procrastination. When someone says, “We need to align on this,” it almost always means, “I haven’t done my part, so let’s make everyone else pause while I figure it out.” It’s the ultimate corporate buzzword: it sounds productive but achieves absolutely nothing.
Let me tell you a little secret. The best-aligned projects I’ve worked on never had a single alignment meeting. You know why? Because the people involved were too busy working to sit around aligning. Actions, not alignment!
The Cost of Over-Alignment: Decision Vacuums and Deadlocks
Alignment can be useful, but in many organizations, it spirals out of control. Decisions are postponed indefinitely because everyone—from entry-level developers to the CEO—needs to “align” first. This obsession with consensus creates a dangerous decision vacuum, where nothing moves forward because everyone is too busy ensuring everyone else agrees.
And in the process, something far more insidious happens: self-empowerment is eroded. Teams that once took initiative, trusted their instincts, and owned their decisions are reduced to waiting for approval from endless alignment meetings. Instead of problem-solvers, they become note-takers and workshop attendees, stuck in a loop of second-guessing their expertise.
The reality is this: not every decision needs everyone’s input. In fact, most decisions should be made by the people they directly impact. Platform Engineers should decide which service mesh to use. Database specialist teams should make decisions about databases. This isn’t just common sense—it’s efficient. The people closest to the work understand the trade-offs and real-world impact far better than any C-level executive or enterprise architect ever could.
But what happens when those directly involved can’t agree? That’s where real leadership comes in. It’s not about endless alignment meetings. It’s about stepping in, making the tough call, and owning the responsibility. The best leaders trust their teams to make decisions. They intervene only when absolutely necessary—and when they do, they take full accountability for the outcome.
Remember to Align (A little)
Now, we may sound overly negative here—it’s probably due to excessive exposure to the term—but that doesn’t mean alignment is inherently bad. Coordination is essential to keep things running smoothly. Just don’t confuse it with overloading every decision with bureaucracy and approval gates.
In the world of IT, alignment is often simpler than people make it out to be. Get the people with knowledge in the same room, let them share insights, and agree on a plan of action. Then step aside and let them work. Progress happens when the people who understand the problem are empowered to solve it—not when decisions are micromanaged by project managers, paper-pushers, or ivory tower architects who are too far removed from the actual work.
So, yes, align—but do it sparingly, with purpose, and only when necessary. Use alignment to grease the wheels of progress, not to grind them to a halt.
Closing: Kill the Buzzword, Save the Decisions
So next time someone invites you to an “Alignment Workshop,” take a moment to ask: “Do we really need this, or can we just agree on the plan and get started?” And if you must align, let’s at least agree on one thing: never, ever use the words “aligne” or “aligner” in Danish again. Let it die, along with unnecessary meetings and vague corporate buzzwords.