Accountability Diffusion is the organizational dysfunction where so many people must approve decisions that no one truly owns outcomes—everyone is responsible, so no one is accountable.
How It Develops
When organizations require:
- Multiple approval layers
- Cross-functional sign-offs
- Committee decisions
- Consensus requirements
- Extensive stakeholder alignment
The Problem
With diffused accountability:
- No one owns outcomes
- Blame gets distributed
- Learning doesn’t happen
- Quality suffers
- Innovation stalls
The Paradox
More approvals intended to ensure quality actually:
- Reduce individual ownership
- Slow decision-making
- Decrease accountability
- Lower quality
- Prevent learning
The Alternative
Clear accountability requires:
- Distributed authority
- Individual ownership
- Direct responsibility
- Rapid feedback
- Learning from outcomes
Better to have one person accountable with authority than many people approving without ownership.