Commentary
At first blush, this article was a pass, but advice it offers kept surfacing. Though it originates in manufacturing, we’re all trying to align our teams and focus on investing our talents and resources in the best places.
Beyond the words, there is a real cost to misalignment, writes Robyn M. Bolton. She shares perspectives and actions from the Strategic Foresight process, which focus on exploring multiple “bold” futures (note plural) to establish a specific and shared understanding to enable informed decisions that lay a foundation for long-term success. The process reveals hidden assumptions about customers, competitors and capabilities that teams didn’t realize they disagreed about and moves beyond the vagueness of corporate speak and buzzwords.
The bigger the recent success, the harder it is to move past the buzzwords to achieve alignment and take action towards a shared future.”
Bolton shares a way to test alignment that fits an animal health setting*. It’s worth considering as practices or pet services businesses look ahead three to five years. Topics might include building the feline business, optimizing veterinary technician use, adding new diagnostic AI tools, promoting online home delivery, aligning with rural practices to deliver specialty services, certifying boarding and grooming personnel and so on.
Source: Industry Week, July 18, 2025. Link.
*A way to test alignment:
- Pick one ‘strategic priority’ your team keeps discussing.
- Give everyone five minutes to write down what success looks like in operational terms and three specific actions to achieve it.
- Don’t discuss it beforehand. Just collect the papers and read them aloud.
INSIGHTS: This exercise works. It can be disconcerting and revealing, but there will be positive surprises whether you’re in a small independent practice, a large multi-site group or a newly started boarding location.