As organizations become flatter and more networked, it becomes less and less clear to anyone who reports to whom and how work is done. The more important question is who has ownership of each decision, who is responsible for the results, and who takes responsibility for the results.
In modern organizations, leaders help to increase accountability by establishing one "owner" for one important decision, delegating to this owner so they can make the decision, and agreeing ahead of time on the evaluation of the outcome.
Why Do Reporting Lines Fall Short?
A reporting line is where you can determine the person who supervises another person. Having a change of price, making a first introduction, or implementing AI touches three functions that tell little about the person making such a decision.
It is very common for there to be more than one leader in matrix and/or project organizations who all work towards the same goal and all are within their right to consider that someone else has the final say.
What This Looks Like in Practice
An article this year described a technology company where twelve executives spent ninety minutes debating a new C-suite role and left without a decision.
The process had named the CEO as decision owner, with four colleagues advising. Although all 12 went to the meeting, it was more of a struggle for power. There was an agreed "paper" role, but no agreement about the real-life "how to" of it.
Collaboration does not Replace Ownership.
But it does gain in value from those who collaborate, as the contributions are spread out among a bunch of people. Doesn't clarify the places the answer is responsible for.
Broad contribution, a single owner; there is no way to overcome the organizational effectiveness. Where outcomes are shared, ownership, or answerability, sub (s")degrades, and ambiguity gathers wherever there is a lack of ownership.
Accountability Must Travel With Authority
Implicitly, with the decision-making power should come the accountability of the leader. The two will never match up 100% in a matrix; however, they will need to match on the decision itself.
-
If we say later that you were at fault in this game, accountability, based on authority, is a requirement.
-
Imposing accountability after a mistake has been made equals blame, as good employees (who can make no mistake) learn to mirror ownership.
AI Raises the Stakes
According to a new report, 60% of executives now are leveraging AI for their decision-making process, with just 5% claiming to manage it well. This model helps to back a decision; however, it still needs to be claimed by a called person. In the year 2027, that clarity will be a measurement that will be used more and more often to differentiate high-performing execs from stalling ones.
A Practical Test for Leaders
For Your Executive Leadership Team
Decision ownership is easy to test. Each person who has the three most significant open decisions in their life has them name their stakeholder(s). If you hear another name, then you have identified which problem you have. Then agree:
-
what each owner can decide alone
-
who must advise
-
when a matter escalates
-
when the arrangement is reviewed, because decision rights drift as goals and structures change
For Senior Appointments
An interesting question to ask is what decisions an individual has had to take responsibility for, what rights they have had to come with, and what they did when they made a mistake. Rapid decision-making and the ability to be flexible are the attributes of an executive who responds straightforwardly, without relying upon staff or their title.
Final Thought
Structures will keep changing shape. A well-led organization can still say, at any moment, whose decision something is and who answers for how it turns out.
The Taplow Group is a global executive search and leadership advisory firm that helps organizations build future-ready leaders who can own decisions and outcomes.