Library/Leak 11
Approvals bottlenecked on the owner
Work stops until the owner personally signs off, regardless of stakes.
How you know you have it
“What can't happen without your sign-off? Below what dollar amount would you let it go?”
What kind of leak it is
Does it need your judgment?
A touch that needs judgment is a delegation candidate: someone has to decide, and it does not have to be you.
How to measure it
Annualized the same way everywhere: duration × frequency × people × 52.
Typical range — illustrative
An order of magnitude to prime your eye, not a statistic and not a claim about anyone's result. The only number that matters is the one you measure.
The move — Delegate
Where it lands in a Time P&L
How long a fix takes
What to do about it
Tools that fix this
- T-01Why Me?
For everything that reaches the owner, ask why it had to be that person.
Vest · Exit (open) - T-02Decision Rights Map
Write down who decides what, so decisions stop defaulting upward.
Vest - T-03Approval Thresholds
Set the line below which nobody needs to ask.
Vest - T-08The Toil Test and the Rule of Three
Decide whether a recurring task should be automated, delegated or left alone.
Automate · Vest