1. Barra Gwynn Enterprises (714) 271-0252
4174 Hillside Avenue Norco, CA 92860
WWW.BarraGwynn.com Page 1 of 2
January, 2013
Alignment & Resilience
Organizations and management experts refer to Alignment and Resilience, and we accept
these terms without hesitation. One knows exactly what this means to them.
Unfortunately, others often don’t see the same “picture”?
In my picture, the synchronous blending of the fundamentals of business and uniqueness
of the enterprises is how a business moves and responds to the market and its vagaries
until its end game is realized. Business survival is dependent upon alignment to get
through the everyday business problems, and continuity is dependent upon resilience to
economic and governmental realities.
Alignment –
Alignment may be better understood using a compare and contrast example to better
communicate the concept. Compare an organization that is like an army, which can move
together at one command, such as “Forward March!”. The entire organization steps off
at the same time with their left feet, and the army is marching. They can turn at the
same time, and even reverse their direction with just a simple signal. They can be divided
in half and marching at constant speed; they can then weave or pass through the rows of
the opposing marchers without hesitation or loss of speed. This example seems to
epitomize the concept of effective and efficient.
Contrast that with a busy pedestrian intersection in New York at commuting time in the
snow. Every person for themselves and willingness to be speedy, agile and/or aggressive
to not give up space or time in crossing. Chaos and individual competition will allow all to
eventually cross. Many may have bruises, stains, wetness, hurt feelings, etc., but they did
get across! Those in front are not necessarily the first to get across the street, and
where they end up on the other side of the crossing may not have been their goal.
Repeat this day after day, and some skills are developed by individuals to allow them safe
and rapid transit; others go passive and just drift as the tide dictates; a great number of
others just keep trying the same unsuccessful strategies with which they started.
Nothing seems likely to adjust this behavior in any meaningful way that will allow
optimization for most if not all. This opposing example would seem to reflect an
uncontrolled and directionless set of actions producing less than expected.

2. Barra Gwynn Enterprises (714) 271-0252
4174 Hillside Avenue Norco, CA 92860
WWW.BarraGwynn.com Page 2 of 2
Resilience –
Real resilience in man made things are pyramids, forums, Great Wall, etc. In a business
sense, resilience is about enduring through the difficulties and opportunities that are
between now and the fulfillment of the End Game. Resilience may also be better
understood using an analogy for the compare/contrast review. A number of long time
corporate names came to mind, but review revealed that few were the “original” and
continuous in conformance to the End Game fulfillment. That led to looking at growing,
adaptable and “branded” to a specific service/product versus those that unsuccessfully
competed. Starbucks, Toyota, Sony, IBM, etc. all came to mind then Word processing
came to mind.
WordStar dominated the business market in the mid-1980’s WORD was hardly
recognized. Microsoft was seen as a copy-cat of MicroPro International’s WordStar.
WordPerfect took over the market share in late “80’s”, and still has a loyal following.
Contrast that with Microsoft’s growth and dominance!
Microsoft made in line business applications, as well as opportunistic jumps to “own” the
market. Rooted in product licensing of DOS. the development of Windows OS started to
tie the applications together, and allowing “open source” development, LOTS of
applications developed. Constant improvement, expansion and opportunistic risks, created
a monumental enterprise in 4 decades! Seems its ability to change, adapt, rethink and
improve would fit those aligned and resilient qualities?
Summary –
Alignment and Resilience strategies feed each other as well as the enterprise. Alignment
conducted by a leader of teams where processes are understood, and reviewed for
improvement; while clarifying the vision and current objectives being planned and
measured to track and control success. These attributes reflect a “change ready”
environment, who listens to the voice of the customer while navigating the economy and
market trends, demonstrating clear communications, which is the foundation of resilience.
Which adds emphasis to the succession and training to keep personnel up to date and
productive as well as secure.
Mallery (Mo) Aiken
Barra Gwynn Enterprises, LLC