Strategic Alignment Isn’t a Diagram, it’s a Discipline
When Strategy Isn’t Enough
Organisations generally don’t struggle because they lack ambition, they struggle because ambition outpaces alignment.
In large corporate environments, it’s common to see competing priorities. Functions strive to be best-in-class - the best in Engineering, Procurement, Programme Management. Meanwhile, the business pushes for strategic clarity, customer outcomes, and sustainable growth.
Both are equally valid, but when they’re not aligned, friction builds. The result is usually mixed messaging and an organisation that talks about 'Change Fatigue', and a strategy that sounds impressive, but fails to land.
The real challenge isn’t about creating a better plan. It’s about creating coherence: a sense that all parts of the organisation are moving in the same direction, at the right pace, with a shared understanding of what matters.
This is where the McKinsey 7S Framework offers value. Not as a checklist or a theory, but as a set of prompts that encourage leaders to ask better questions. It helps leaders to lead with empathy and intent.
The 7S Framework: A Map of Organisational Reality
The model itself is simple: seven interconnected elements that must align for an organisation to perform at its best.
Strategy – where we’re going, and why
Structure – how we’re organised
Systems – the tools and processes we rely on
Shared Values – what we believe and reward
Style – how leadership behaves and communicates
Staff – the people and their roles
Skills – the capabilities we have (or need to build)
But its simplicity is deceptive. These seven elements don’t sit in neat column, rather they interact constantly. Misalignment in one can quietly undermine all the others.
Applying the 7S Framework: Leadership in Integration
When I was tasked with bringing together three distinct business units into a single organisation, the structural change was the starting point, but it wasn’t the hardest part.
At first, much of the energy from those impacted by the changes was lost to a desire to understand hierarchy: who reports to whom, and how the pieces fit on an organisation chart. But charts don’t deliver outcomes - people do. And they do it best when they’re part of something coherent.
That’s where 7S helped. Not as a stand-alone framework, but as a model to surface tensions and guide decisions:
Shared Values: We began by listening - understanding the legacy and pride each business held. Instead of erasing those stories, we used them to co-create a new set of shared values that people could believe in.
Style: We used tools like StrengthScope to explore how we led - individually and as a team. It wasn’t about fixing weaknesses, but amplifying strengths and building psychological safety for honest challenge.
Skills and Staff: Too much thinking was short-term. We needed to lift our gaze, so by connecting this to Strategic Workforce Planning, we started to plan not just for contracts, but for capability - now and next.
Systems: Integration required new ways of seeing the business. We introduced digital tools that supported both Integrated Business Planning and clearer deployment of capability - linking data with decisions.
One lesson stood out: you can’t sequence your way to alignment. We had to mature different areas in parallel, refining the structure while shaping the culture, improving systems while developing new skills.
Progress came not from perfection, but from iteration: aligning incrementally and learning as we went.
When Alignment Is Missing
The signs are usually clear if you’re listening.
Disengagement…confusion…a culture that debates ownership rather than outcomes…
Mixed messaging is often the root cause. When one function pushes ahead with its own change agenda, but the rest of the organisation isn’t ready the system fragments. People lose trust, and the change that could have accelerated performance ends up slowing it down.
It’s not because people don’t care - quite the opposite. Most people turn up to work to do their best, but when they’re not enabled - when the system creates unnecessary friction - it becomes harder to succeed.
What Alignment Looks Like
It’s not about everyone agreeing, but about having the right discussions.
A cross-functional leader asking how their work supports the broader strategy - not just their silo.
A team reflecting together - not to criticise, but to learn and improve.
Leaders challenging assumptions, while holding a shared commitment to the outcome.
Alignment feels like forward, fluid motion - purpose and clarity.
It’s when the whole business feels like it’s pointed in the same direction, even if the path isn’t always smooth.
Reflections for Leaders
The 7S Framework won’t give you all the answers, but it will help you ask better questions.
Used well, it encourages a systemic view: not “how do I deliver this initiative?” but “how do we ensure this change fits and flows across the business?”
I've learnt that the best approach is not to aim for instant perfection, but to align in stages. Using multiple frameworks - such as Service Orientation for customer experience -can really help you hold the whole picture in view.
Because real transformation isn’t a function’s job, or a leader’s project. It’s a collective journey that is shaped by how well we align strategy, structure, systems, and culture to serve the mission we share.
