It started with a strange email.
The CEO of a mid-sized agri-processing firm I had supported years earlier wrote: “Mr Strategy, we’ve grown fast. But now, everything feels stuck. We’ve got good people… but somehow, no one knows who’s doing what anymore.”
I was curious. This was a high-performing team. Or so it seemed.
When I arrived, I started where I always do—diagnosis before prescription. I sat in on meetings. Read the emails. Observed the workflow. Within two days, the pattern was clear: everyone assumed someone else was handling it. It was a culture where no one took responsibility — the “leaking roof dilemma”– where no one bothered to fix the leaking roof, waiting for some miracle. Same here.
The procurement lead was waiting for production to send specs. Production was waiting for HR to onboard temporary workers. HR was waiting for Finance to approve overtime. Finance said, “We’re not even sure who owns this project.”
I leaned back and asked, “Who’s in charge of this?”
No reply.
That is when I told them about a bizarre meeting I once walked into. You know, today’s spaces are premium. The room is fixed when the meeting is about to happen. This time, no chairs in the room! People stood awkwardly waiting. One asked, “Are we waiting for someone to bring chairs?” Another replied, “I thought you were.” The meeting never started. Everyone assumed someone else would solve it. That’s what role confusion looks like. Not laziness—just learned helplessness.
I have seen this story repeat itself in banks, schools, factories, and even hospitals.
In one health sector project, three different heads thought the other was leading the digitisation of patient records. Eleven months passed. Nothing. Not one file scanned. Why? No one owned it.
Here’s the leadership truth: when everyone is copied, no one is accountable.
This scenario fits perfectly the story of Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody we were told in primary school:
“There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn’t.”
So during a strategy retreat, I led the team through my “Role Clarity Grid.” We listed every priority project. For each, we asked: Who leads? Who supports? Who approves? Who needs to be informed?
By the end of the day, we removed 37% of duplicated roles. Within 90 days, decisions were faster, accountability sharper, and results more predictable.
This week, pick your top 3 priorities. Assign a single name per item. No shared ownership. One name. One driver. Support roles? Fine. But there must be one owner. Let the owner assemble a team and further assign them roles.
Enter the Clarity Sprint
Ask each department head to write 5 key deliverables for the quarter. For each deliverable, write the name of the one person accountable. Not the department. A person. Have those people give a 2-minute update in your next EXCO huddle. No hiding. No overlap.
Try it. You’ll be shocked how many “owned” tasks were actually orphaned.
Because assumption is the enemy of execution.
I remain, Mr Strategy.
