Which Shore?

The story: They agreed to row towards the shore. Neither asked which shore — because when you're sitting in the same boat, it feels like you must be looking at the same horizon. They weren't. They rowed hard, in opposite directions, and went nowhere.

What it means for organisations: A shared goal is not a shared direction. Organisations spend enormous energy getting everyone to agree on the destination — and almost no energy checking whether everyone is picturing the same path to get there. The goal can be identical. The execution can still pull in opposite directions.