There's a good chance you've read something from me on this list about "alignment". In fact, I think I mentioned it more than once in a response to this morning's questions about co-ops & coworking.
Seth Godin has a great post today about why alignment is important:
The thing that's most resonant for me is his closing line (no surprise there).
The tension that comes from misalignment can work for a while, but it's when alignment kicks in that the enterprise really scales.
You can do things without alignment - but why would you?
-Alex