#78 - Alignment: Overcoming Internal Sabotage and Digital Product Failure - Jonathon Hensley

<p><em>“Oftentimes it’s not about what’s being said. It’s the fact that there’s not a shared understanding of what’s being said. It’s important that organizations proactively think about how they build a common language and manage that."</em></p> <p>Jonathon Hensley is the co-founder and CEO of EMERGE, a digital product consulting firm, and the author of “Alignment: Overcoming internal sabotage and digital product failure”. In this episode, Jonathon shared the main motivation for him writing “Alignment”, which is to understand why digital products and services fail so commonly. He shared the concept of alignment, how it aligns with our biological need, and why it is so important for leaders to get right in order to deliver successful great products and services. Jonathon then explained the danger of when organization is at war with itself and what are the common reasons that cause internal misalignments. Jonathon shared how leaders can work towards creating alignment, and why it is important to move away from monolithic product thinking and move more towards platform thinking. Finally, Jonathon also shared some team alignment recipes that can transform one team to become a high-performing product team.</p> <p>Listen out for:</p> <ul> <li>Career Journey - [00:05:58]</li> <li>Silicon Valley - [00:08:19]</li> <li>“Alignment” Book - [00:10:06]</li> <li>Why Digital Products Fail - [00:12:17]</li> <li>Importance of Alignment - [00:17:28]</li> <li>Internal Misalignment - [00:20:49]</li> <li>Alignment and Biology - [00:25:15]</li> <li>Common Misalignment Reasons - [00:28:39]</li> <li>Leaders Role in Alignment - [00:33:46]</li> <li>Platform Thinking - [00:38:41]</li> <li>Team Alignment - [00:41:06]</li> <li>3 Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:44:04]</li> </ul> <p>_____</p> <p><em>Jonathon Hensley’s Bio</em><br> Jonathon Hensley is the co-founder and CEO of Emerge, a digital product consulting firm that works with companies to improve operational agility and customer experience. For more than two decades, Jonath