Introducing ALIGN: The studio practiCe

In today's environment, change is not a special project or a temporary interruption; it is the environment we all work in. Organizations are constantly evolving, responding to new information, shifting priorities, and emerging needs.

Over the years, whether I was a staff member, a leader, or now, a consultant, I have learned something from every single person I’ve worked with. Staff and stakeholders offer valuable insights about daily challenges, short-term priorities, long-range possibilities, and the way forward. Yet too often, organizations overlook that wisdom.

Artists work differently. Whether painting, composing, or choreographing, they pay attention to what stirs inside them. They honor it. They give it form. That is how something new takes shape.

I believe organizations can and should do the same. The Studio Practice begins with listening to yourself: your thoughts, reactions, and instincts, and honoring what you notice by giving it words. Our wisdom is the sum of our experience. Each person holds a piece of it, and no one’s perspective is “wrong” when it reflects their lived experience and innate strengths. When organizations create space for people to access and share that wisdom, transformation begins. Because when people are invited to bring their wisdom to life, organizations do not just adapt to change; they thrive in it.

That is why I developed ALIGN: The Studio Practice Framework, a practical approach for bringing wisdom into the center of how leaders and teams work. ALIGN is designed for today’s reality. It is not just a framework for managing change, but a way of leading and operating in motion, where reflection, clarity, and alignment become everyday practices, and strategy, culture, and execution stay connected even as conditions shift.

How ALIGN Works

ALIGN represents five moves that help leaders and teams turn insight into aligned action. We call them moves because alignment is not a one-time process; it is a dynamic practice. Each move represents a deliberate action leaders can take to respond wisely to what the moment requires.

🔹 Absorb: Begin by seeking to understand what is really happening. Instead of rushing into solutions, listen carefully to people, systems, and lived experience.
🔹 Legitimize: Insights gain strength when they are shared and clarified. Turn observations into shared priorities and a roadmap that leadership owns together.
🔹 Integrate: Direction must translate into practice. Embed new approaches into daily operations, planning, and decision-making.
🔹 Grow: Change endures when people grow. Build capacity and confidence so teams can carry progress forward.
🔹 Nurture: Momentum lasts when culture is tended over time. Steward progress, celebrate learning, and adapt as conditions evolve.

Why it matters
Alignment is how vision becomes daily work. With ALIGN, you have a practical way to hear what is true, set what matters, and move together even as conditions shift. When alignment becomes a shared practice, organizations stay clear-headed, connected, and capable of meeting what comes next.

Alignment prompt
What is a small move you can make today that will help to align strategy, culture, and execution?