Playbook / Lessons / The system runs: operating cadence
StartupsDelegate decisions, not only tasks, as you scale
Bond describes a scaling startup where a mid-level leader learned about decisions on his product only after they were made, because senior leaders had centralized decision-making. She calls this a common scale-up org smell, with signs such as no widely shared decision process and mid-level leaders unsure what they can decide on their own. Her conclusion is to design decision structures deliberately and delegate more decisions.
“We must delegate more, especially decisions.”— Suzan Bond, Scaling Decision Making, Jul 2023
Do this
List the decisions that currently land on your desk and name, next to each, the person who should make it without asking you.