Most companies think of autonomy and alignment as two ends of a spectrum.
On one side: tight alignment, with top-down direction, clear goals, and centralized decisions.
On the other: autonomy, where teams self-organize, explore, and move independently.
And so they feel forced to choose. Either control and coordination, or chaos and creativity.
But that’s the wrong framing.
Autonomy and alignment aren’t opposites. They’re not a trade-off. In fact, the only way to make autonomy work at scale is to increase alignment, not reduce it.
The real problem is this: most organizations don’t know how to build both at the same time. They swing from one extreme to the other—without ever achieving either.
Let me explain with a metaphor I often use.
The Rowing Boat Trap
Picture a rowing boat.
One person—the coxswain—decides where to go. Everyone else rows.
They can’t see the destination, they can’t steer, they just follow the rhythm and trust the one with the map.
That’s how many companies operate by default. A few leaders set the direction. The rest execute.
It feels efficient. Clear roles. Minimal drift. But over time, people stop understanding why they’re rowing—and start asking for more control. They want to steer too. They want autonomy.
And that’s when the organization makes its first mistake.
Enter the Kayaks
To respond to this push for autonomy, the company does what feels natural:
It gives everyone their own kayak. A boat, a paddle, and full freedom.
And for a moment, it feels empowering.
But soon enough, it’s chaos.
Some are off at the far end of the lake.
Others are stuck in a canal.
A few got tangled in the trees.
One team set up a barbecue on a nearby beach.
Some are just spinning in circles.
And a couple are arguing in the middle of the lake after crashing into each other.
Leadership panics. They blow the whistle.
Enough playtime. Everyone back in the same boat. Back to rowing. Back to control.
And they call that “alignment.”
But that’s not alignment at all.
Alignment ≠ Control
Here’s the paradox: when everyone’s in a single boat and only one person is steering, you don’t need alignment—because nobody else is allowed to choose a direction.
That’s not alignment. That’s just coordination.
Real alignment becomes necessary only when people can move on their own.
Autonomy is what makes alignment essential.
So if you want autonomous teams, the answer isn’t to take their kayaks away. It’s to help them navigate.
Autonomy is a Scaling Requirement
This isn’t just a cultural question—it’s a structural one.
If your organization can only move forward when everyone checks in with everyone else, coordination overhead explodes. Every decision becomes a meeting. Every project needs a committee.
You don’t just slow down. You stall.
Worse, the long-term effect is disengagement. People stop taking initiative. They wait to be told. They lose the sense of ownership that makes work matter.
To scale, you need autonomy—not as a perk, but as a system requirement.
Without it, growth becomes friction.
The Lighthouse Across the Lake
If you want autonomy without chaos, you need to give people a shared direction.
That’s the lighthouse on the far side of the lake.
Point to it and say: “We’re meeting there in two hours.”
You’re not telling them exactly how to get there.
You’re telling them why, where, and when.
Suddenly, the chaos becomes movement.
Some will arrive fast. Some will take a detour. A few might still be spinning in circles. But that’s no longer a failure of autonomy—it’s a skill gap. Those people don’t need a coxswain. They need coaching.
From Control to Mastery
This is where leadership truly comes in—not to steer, but to build capability.
If someone’s still turning in circles, it’s probably because they don’t know how to paddle. Your job is to teach them, not take the kayak away.
This is the core insight behind David Marquet’s Turn the Ship Around!, one of the most powerful books on leadership I’ve ever read. His framework is simple but deep:
Don’t give orders. Give intent.
But the fundamental shift isn’t just in what leaders say. It’s in what teams learn to do.
The goal isn’t just for people to stop waiting for orders.
It’s for them to actively declare: “I intend to…”—and take ownership of moving forward. That’s what autonomy looks like in practice. Not passive freedom. Proactive responsibility.
Autonomy thrives when people are aligned, equipped, and engaged.
What Great Leaders Do
If you want a culture of aligned autonomy, here’s what you actually need to do:
Set a clear destination. Be specific, visible, and repeat it often.
Give people kayaks. Empower them to make decisions and move.
Teach them to paddle. Skill-building is leadership. Autonomy is earned through mastery.
Don’t mistake coordination for alignment. Just because people are moving in sync doesn’t mean they understand why.
At scale, alignment isn’t about everyone doing the same thing.
It’s about everyone doing the right things, in their own way, toward a shared outcome.
Autonomy without alignment is chaos. Alignment without autonomy is stagnation.
The magic happens when you have both.
