Episode Description
Many organisations say they want empowered teams.
Yet those same teams are often expected to seek approval before changing scope, challenging a deadline, protecting technical health, saying no to a request or responding to what they have learned.
In this episode of the Organisational Friction Series, we explore why permission-seeking is often a rational response to the system around the team, rather than a lack of confidence, capability or ownership.
We look at how unclear decision boundaries, governance, funding, measures and leadership behaviour can quietly teach teams where authority really sits. We also explore what meaningful empowerment requires: clear intent, usable authority, trusted boundaries, shared context and leadership support when decisions become uncomfortable.
The episode draws on Matthew Coxall’s upcoming body of work around Harmony, including the Harmony philosophy, The Harmony Operating Model and Harmonised.
A question to take back to your organisation:
What decision does your team repeatedly ask permission to make, even though it already has the context and accountability to make it?
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The views and thoughts expressed in this podcast are those of the author.
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