Seeking alignment of understanding often gets conflated with seeking complete consensus of opinion.

If the second has the potential to slow you down, the first is foundational to quick-decision making - but they are often viewed and applied as one and the same.

Why this bothers me is I think that efforts to create a shared understanding and shared expectations are often rejected because people view it as “design by committee” and perceive that nothing will get done until everybody agrees.

But having a shared understanding of goals, priorities, process and the ways that decisions get made is critical to making decisions effectively and on a basis that everyone understands and can accept - even if it’s not what they would have chosen.

When decisions are made autonomously in silos to avoid creating shared understanding, it doesn’t lead to better efficiency - it only kicks inefficiency down the road, to the point at which those who expected a say in those decisions realise they weren’t given one.

In summary:

1. Invest time in creating shared understanding, not seeking consensus of opinion.

2. Communicate decision process and decision owners clearly.

3. Give people the knowledge and structure they need to input.

4. Make the decision in line with 2 and informed by 3.