Distinguish from
Behavioral similarity
Matching behavior is only one possible geometry of coordination. Functional alignment often depends on organized difference.
A lens
Functional alignment
Do differentiated activities contribute to a competent whole?
Components do not have to behave alike to be functionally aligned. A system can depend on different parts making complementary, compensatory, or even opposing contributions to a shared task variable.
Try seeing it
Sometimes the parts align by doing different things.
A goalkeeper and striker contribute to the same team's competence by performing very different actions. Opposing muscles can jointly stabilize a limb. One conversational partner asks while another answers.
In these systems, making the components more similar can actually make the larger system work worse.
Look for
A preserved task variable
What larger outcome remains stable even while the contributions of individual components vary?
Ask next
How is difference organized?
Which roles, couplings, constraints, or learned relationships make heterogeneous contributions fit together?
A question to carry elsewhere