One of the most common mantras in collaboration is: “Make sure everyone has the same goal.”

It sounds logical, but in practice, it is one of the fastest ways to kill collaboration. What you need instead are aligned goals, not identical ones.

The Hitchhiker Story

Imagine you are driving from Ghent to Paris for a business meeting. Just outside the city, you spot a hitchhiker holding a sign that says “Lille.”

At first, you hesitate. You are not going to Lille, you are going to Paris. The goals are not identical. But then you realize: for the next 80 kilometers, your journeys overlap perfectly.

• You get company on the road, someone to share stories with and keep you alert.
• He gets a free ride straight to Lille.
• And who knows, you might even pick up a good playlist or a funny story along the way.

Hitchhikers and drivers do not need the same destination, just the same direction for a while.

At the Lille exit, he hops out, thanks you, and continues his trip. You continue to Paris. Different destinations, yet a win for both of you.

Partnerships are no different. If you demand identical goals, you will only ever travel with people going to Paris. If you allow for alignment, you will find companions who can add value for part or all of the journey.

The Pitfall of Identical Goals

If you take “same goal” literally, you end up searching for partners who want to build the same product, for the same customer segment, in the same region, at the same price point. In other words, you are looking at your competitors.

Identical goals sound safe, but they often lead you straight into competition.

Collaboration among direct competitors is possible, but it requires very high maturity, strong governance, and trust. Even then, it often complicates matters more than it helps. By contrast, collaboration with aligned goals allows you to partner with organizations whose strengths and ambitions complement yours, not duplicate them.

Why Alignment Wins

Aligned goals open the door to diversity. Different stakeholders bring different viewpoints to the table, such as technical experts, market specialists, policymakers, end users, and researchers. This interdisciplinarity enlarges the search space for solutions.

The result:

• Stronger solutions
• More creative breakthroughs
• Innovations that are not only feasible but also more valuable and relevant to the market or society

Different viewpoints widen the search space, which creates stronger and more valuable solutions.

If you are building your next project, ask yourself: who could widen your search space and help you reach results faster than you could alone?

Alignment Is Not Compromise

Imagine two friends living in Brussels. One dreams of traveling to New York, the other to Tokyo. If they compromise, they might settle on going to Mesen, the smallest city in Belgium. Nice for a Sunday stroll maybe, but hardly the trip of a lifetime.

Compromise often leaves everyone worse off, while alignment keeps everyone moving forward.

That is compromise: everyone gives up too much and ends up with something underwhelming.

Alignment means finding a stretch of the journey where both get what they need, without diluting the outcome into something meaningless.

The Payoff of Alignment

• Partnerships gain clarity and avoid wasted effort.
• Each party can remain true to its deeper purpose while still contributing to a shared win.
• Trust and relationships grow stronger, because everyone feels heard and respected.
• Different perspectives enrich the vision, which sparks more robust and creative solutions.
• Results come faster, stronger, and with more impact than any partner could achieve alone, which means you can hit milestones earlier, impress funders, and unlock growth opportunities that competitors will envy.

Aligned goals unleash better innovations, stronger partnerships, and real results.

The real power of collaboration is not found in identical goals. It is found in aligned journeys that bring together different strengths, enrich the search for solutions, and create outcomes that are stronger, faster, and more valuable than anything you could achieve alone.