False Alignment: The Silent Project Killer Every PM Should Watch For !
“We’re all aligned.” The four words every project manager loves to hear — and dreads six weeks later. The Moment Every PM Knows Too Well You wrap up a project status call, kick-off meeting or governance meeting Everyone agrees on next steps. No one raises objections. The project feels finally on track. Fast forward a few weeks — deliverables are late, decisions are reversed, and one stakeholder insists that wasn’t what we agreed on . Sound familiar? That’s false alignment — the quiet, invisible project killer that disguises itself as progress until it’s too late to fix. What False Alignment Really Is False alignment isn’t disagreement. It’s unspoken divergence — when everyone thinks they’re talking about the same goal, but they’re actually interpreting it through their own filters. In a room full of nodding heads, it feels like consensus. But beneath that surface: Business is focused on speed. QA is focused on quality. Engineering is focused on feasibility...