Responsibility & Decision
Positioning
Many of the Failure Patterns addressed in this site arise not from technical errors, but from the location of decision and responsibility becoming ambiguous.
Responsibility and Decision here are not confined to role distribution or authority design. Whether "who decides what" is established as a structure is treated as a design concern.
Scope
This Appendix does not address the application of specific responsibility-distribution methodologies or organizational design frameworks.
Methods such as RACI are only referenced as one tool for making decision-making subjects visible.
Details of authority delegation or governance design are not addressed in this site.
Mapping
The following organizes the correspondence between elements in this site and representative concepts related to responsibility and decision.
| Element in Main Text | Position in Responsibility / Decision Lineage |
|---|---|
| Decision-less Agility | State where structures that avoid decisions are rationalized |
| Responsibility Diffusion | Situation where responsibility is dispersed and the decision-making subject disappears |
| Countermeasures | Intervention to re-establish the subject and boundaries that take on decisions |
| Resulting Context | State where decisions are continuously taken on |
Rationale
Even when responsibilities and authorities are clear, decisions are not necessarily taken on.
Formal role definitions and approval flows do not guarantee decision-making. What matters is whether the subject that takes on decisions is made visible as a structure.
Decision-less Agility and Responsibility Diffusion indicate not so much issues of individual attitude or capability, but situations where structures are established that allow decisions to be avoided or dispersed.
References
- James O. Coplien, Software Design Patterns: Common Questions and Answers, 1994.
- James O. Coplien, Neil B. Harrison, Organizational Patterns of Agile Software Development, 2004.
- Michael C. Jensen, William H. Meckling, Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure, 1976.
- R. Edward Freeman, Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, 1984.