In a massive street demonstration for Anti Something Big, you have the Anti Something Big activists, the Anti Everything, the Chronic Demonstrators, the Pro the Opposite Dreamers, a few Sociopaths and people who have free time. This is how it works. Pretending that everybody is fully aligned with the overriding cause is simply naive. But they are all part of the same demonstration.
In a pharmaceutical company, the following people can be found: those who want to save lives, those who love chemistry and biology, those who want to make money, those who love doctors, hospitals and patients, those who work there because they live a few miles down the road from the office, those who need to pay their mortgage, and the rest. Other combinations may apply. Not everybody who works in a pharmaceutical company is there because they save lives. They all work in the same company. (Asked if they like to save lives most people would say yes, what kind of a stupid question is that?)
In the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James, St. James’s Way, St. James’s Path, St. James’s Trail, Route of Santiago de Compostela), a long walking route, starting in France or Spain and ending in North West Spain in Santiago de Compostela, walked every year by around a quarter of a million people from around the world. On that route, you will find these people: the ones who do this as a Christian pilgrimage, the ones who want to prove themselves, the ones who copy what friends have done, the fit, the fit and with time, the curious, the ones having a mid-life crisis, the adventurous tourists and the ones who are not sure why they are doing it but they do. They all walk the same path. They all end up in the same place.
Similar coalitions of life travellers can be found in political parties, NGOs, any sort of company, the church and those doing voluntary work.
In any of these human congregations, from the ephemeral to the stable, compatible dreams work alone. Their alignment, if any, is about the compatibility of the travel.
You are most welcome to kid yourself otherwise, but if you agree, and you are a leader in an organization, the implications are clear. You are suddenly a Cartographer, Inspirer, Guide, Host, Encourager, Mobilizer and Leader of the Pack. Drop the alignment thing in the old way of All Thoughts Cloned, One Path. Master the art of welcoming and coaching all compatible dreams. Set the non-negotiable (behaviours) then start.