Misalignment doesn’t necessarily begin with disagreement; more often, it develops in the space between what one leader believes was decided and what another leader heard. And those differences can be easy to miss until you’re trying to get a project across the finish line. To avoid duplicated work and unnecessary stalls, team alignment needs to be confirmed at the start of a project.

In this article, we explore why misalignment hides in assumptions, how leaders can unintentionally carry clarity on their own, and why planning without alignment can create friction instead of momentum.