The alignment illusion: a relational theory of misalignment and the gaps that form in organizations

Purpose This paper explores how organizations become misaligned across strategy, execution and culture and how gaps form in the relational spaces between these domains. The Organizational Gap Framework (OGF) is proposed as a diagnostic framework for leaders to identify relational misalignment and break through the Alignment Illusion. Design/methodology/approach This paper utilizes a qualitative research design and theory building approach, drawing on systematic analysis of 12 in-depth executive interviews across varied leadership roles and industries. Empirical evidence from the interview data, and the literature on organizational alignment, strategy, execution and culture was then used as the theoretical grounding for the OGF. Findings The OGF identifies that misalignment lives in the gaps between Strategy-Execution, Execution-Culture and Culture-Strategy. Two structural mechanisms drive the Alignment Illusion, actively masking misalignment as it forms. This paper also proposes spillover dynamics that may cause gaps to propagate to the third domain, meaning the visible misalignment symptom may be one domain removed from the root cause. Practical implications Leaders cannot address gaps they do not see. The OGF gives leaders a diagnostic vocabulary for naming problems they have likely sensed but struggled to articulate, to better understand and diagnose root causes and facilitate corrective action. Originality/value The OGF makes three contributions. First, it theorizes and names the Alignment Illusion as a perceptual condition that masks relational misalignment. Second, the OGF moves beyond single-domain thinking toward relational diagnosis through a system-level integration of existing constructs. Third, it proposes that gaps are dynamic and interconnected, producing spillover effects in adjacent domains.