(Lock)step in Time

Mary Poppins, misalignment, and organizational change

In 1964, Walt Disney brought P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins to the big screen.  

The movie was an instant hit - $28M in net profits, 13 Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture), and a place in the hearts of children everywhere.  

The road to get there, however, was anything but ‘supercalifragilistic...’  

Walt Disney and P.L. Travers argued about everything.  

She hated musicals – he wanted big production numbers. 

He was renowned for magic and heart – she found him trite and sentimental. 

For months, they haggled over the tiniest words and the biggest moments in the movie.  

Why?  

Disney and Travers weren’t aligned.  

They didn’t have a shared vision – and they weren’t interested in finding one.  

They fought tooth and nail to finish the film, creating a work experience that was less than magical for everyone else involved.   

Despite the film’s commercial, critical, and cultural success, neither was completely satisfied with the result.  

And they never worked together again.  

Alignment is crucial to every project you work on.  

Help the medicine go down 

Alignment matters – always – for the little things and the big things.  

You don’t necessarily need it for a successful product (Mary Poppins was a hit, after all, no matter what happened behind the scenes).  

But you do need it for a successful process: it’s the key to clear vision, efficient collaboration, and a fulfilling working environment.  

And when everyone is on the same page, they have the mental bandwidth and emotional capacity to do their best, most innovative work.  

Look for alignment with:  

• Your customers: Are the people you serve your first priority? 

• Your work: Is your work aligned to your own goals and priorities?   

• Your team: Are you all working toward the same goals? Are you saying the same things?  

• Your organization: Are you embracing your company values? Do you make it easy or hard for people to collaborate across silos? Do you practice inclusion and diversity of thinking?  

Alignment can seem like bitter medicine. Attending touchpoints and constantly checking in with your ecosystem is tedious at best.  

But aligning early and often is actually a spoonful of sugar – it keeps people centered, reduces unnecessary conflict, and saves precious time and energy as your project grows, develops, and thrives.   

How do you build alignment in your work? Drop some tips in the comments below.