Stakeholder Alignment Is Not Consensus

Alignment means people understand what was decided, why it was decided, and what they are expected to do next. Consensus means everyone likes the answer, which is a different and usually impossible bar. You need shared clarity; you almost never need unanimous enthusiasm. Committees that chase agreement optimize for comfort and delay the hard tradeoff. Document the decision, the reasoning, and the dissent if there is any—then move. Product velocity dies in rooms that mistake silence for alignment and politeness for strategy.