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Responsibility Without Authority
Jan 2008
Dec
The Fitness Institute
of Texas is unsurprisingly committed to promoting a healthy
lifestyle comprised of both regular exercise and a balanced diet. They contribute
to this cause as professionals and must feel a sincere responsibility to spread this
message to the public. They seem like a laudable organization. Unfortunately, apparently
all they can achieve within their own building is posting a few signs.
The University sells sugary soda but half-heartedly encourages you not to drink it.
The Frustration Equation
Responsibility without authority equals frustration, and usually, futility. If its your
job (or your personal mission) to get something done, not being empowered to do it
will drive you bonkers. This is classic organizational failure. A sign on a soda machine
reminding you that sodas are unhealthy is clearly the result of someone trying to do
something positive in the absence of the authority to do what they believe is
right: getting rid of soda machines.
The wording of the poster fails to mask the author's emotions. The sign maker presents
a fact about added sugars and overall daily calorie intake, which is about the weakest
possible way to imply that cola drinks are bad for you. "Higher food calorie consumption" doesn't
sound like much of a negative consequence. The only request with any emphasis at all is
"fight obesity", which is a rather abstract call to action. The first revisions of the
sign must have been alarmist. I bet somewhere there's a crumbled piece of paper that
reads: "WARNING: These beverages contain as many as twelve teaspoons of refined sugar,
potentially hazardous additives, and the drug caffeine. They are linked to
obesity, heart disease, diabetes and chronic cardiovascular issues. Consume at
your own peril." That version probably never even made it to committee.
Right Seeks Might
What happens to those who believe they have a responsibility but lack sufficient
authority? They either give up caring or find subversive ways to seize power. The
typical apathetic employee fits the first situation: chronically overburdened with
responsibility but denied access to anything that might enable them to make
improvements. The second is the firebrand, the reformer, the revolutionary. Obsessed
with a moral imperative, they will push, bend and break practically any rule to make
change in their world.
Right now, the signs on the machines are clearly attributed to their creators, so if
the company who manages the soda machines wants to complain, they can head straight
for the source. It's easy to imagine that inside the Fitness Institute of Texas is a
newly-formed rebellious cabal, determined to stop the evil powers behind high fructose
corn syrup. This secret insurgency of healthy choice commandos could readily escalate
from benevolent posters to angry, unsigned graffiti in the form of a shoe-polish skull
and crossbones across the vending machine windows. Sweep teams wearing ski masks might
furtively unplug power cords or jam coin slots with chewing gum. It could get ugly,
and nobody wants that.
Avoiding Mutiny
While a junta of freedom-fighting nutritionists seems a little far-fetched, there is no
question that people vying for power can be dangerous. Clipping wings and hoping that
everyone will become an apathetic wage slave is not a workable strategy. Even if nobody
speaks up or tries to make things better despite their complete lack of authority, the
rest of your people will not be productive or happy. Piling on responsibility is only
half of delegation. The rest is ensuring the delegate can do whatever needs to be done.
The Other Equation
Responsibility plus authority equals ownership. When people have work to do and the ability
to complete it in the way they think is best, a funny thing starts to happen—they
start to care. Almost instantly, they see themselves as contributor instead of just
a human inbox, and their organization as a team rather than a burdensome paycheck-printing
necessity.
The layers of bureacracy at the University who oversee the Fitness Institute of Texas
should recognize the disconnect they have inadvertently created. The group responsible
for the foremost study of healthy lifestyles has no authority over the group who makes
beverages available to thirty patrons. If FIT had responsibility and authority,
we would have no signs on soda dispensers. But I bet the vending machines would stay,
colas replaced by juices, bottled water and other healthy offerings. With ownership in the
community, the folks at FIT would be part of the team.
Further Reading:
Would you like to leave a comment?
Read this.
###
Public school teachers possess unfathomable responsibility
and almost zero official authority. They often use their own money
to purchase supplies, books and lab equipment because the administration
refuses to relinquish this power without triplicate signatures in blood.
When district-wide curriculum mandates appear, many educators ignore them
entirely. When it comes to acquiring school supplies or deciding what to
teach, those with the responsibility but not the authority decide
to take matters into their own hands. As the saying goes, "teaching begins
when teachers close their doors."
