Responsibility Breaks

Scope

The target is states in which responsibility for decisions, determinations, and changes cannot be grasped structurally. What is addressed here is not problems of specific positions or processes,
but types of breakdown observed during operations.

Definition

Responsibility breaks describes a state in which relationships such as who decides what and which decisions lead to which changes become unclear, and the location and reasons for decisions cannot be tracked.

Symptoms

• The same kind of decision is made based on different standards depending on the situation or person
• States are observed where reasons why changes were made cannot be explained later
• Situations are observed where technical decisions and business decisions are mixed and handled in the same context
• Situations are observed where, when problems occur, who decided what cannot be identified

Typical Triggers

• Situations are observed where work proceeds without decision criteria or decision authority being made explicit
• Situations are observed where reasons for changes do not remain in code or tickets and are treated as implicit knowledge
• States continue where roles or work scope were expanded without responsibility boundaries being agreed upon
• States are treated as assumptions as decisions prioritizing speed accumulate and decision records are omitted

Diagnostic Questions

• Is it a state where it can be explained whose decision this change was?
• Is it a state where decision criteria and assumptions can be referred to later?
• Is it a state where, in similar situations, the same decision will be reproduced?
• Is it a state where technical decisions and business decisions are distinguished?

What This Is Not

• This does not refer to lack of capability of specific roles or individuals
• This does not discuss the appropriateness of organizational culture or posture
• This does not refer to single decision-making errors

Connections

• Why It Breaks: Context Erosion, Decision Avoidance