Stop Digging: Why Poor Alignment Is Wrecking Your Strategy

Imagine trying to climb a mountain while part of your team enthusiastically digs a hole in the opposite direction. That’s what poor strategic alignment looks like.

In a 2015 PMI-sponsored survey, respondents believed that, on average, one in five current projects in their strategic portfolios should be terminated.

Not every project needs to be stopped. Some may need changing or deferring. But work that no longer justifies its claim on scarce resources should not continue by default.

Before asking for more budget, more people or more effort, ask whether the current commitments still deserve the resources they consume.

Sometimes the first move is to stop digging the hole.

This short video shows exactly why poor alignment is preventing the business from achieving its goals (and frustrating your execs while you're at it!).

It also shows what happens when you fix it. And trust me, it's good...

When leadership stops or changes work that no longer justifies its place, funding and capacity can be redirected towards more valuable commitments. Stopping existing projects can be difficult, but continuing them also has a cost. That does not remove delivery constraints, but it changes what those resources are being asked to achieve.

That’s the power of strategic alignment done properly. Not by adding another spreadsheet or steering committee alone, but by connecting priorities to the choices leadership can actually support. TransparentChoice helps make those choices visible:

• Prioritize like a grown-up using AHP.

• Align projects to strategy, visibly and collaboratively.

• Compare which combinations of projects fit the available funding and capacity.

• See what stays, what gives way and how a change in leadership priorities affects the choice.

• Get buy-in, kill waste, and deliver real business value.

Want better results? Don’t run faster. Run smarter.

If you're questioning which projects still deserve funding or capacity, start with a Decision Review. We’ll work through what is constraining your portfolio and what might need to give way.