So much technology pain is really about ownership.
It’s not just the ownership of the technology itself, it’s also about an entire category of “gold team” ownership (see the Distributed Ownership model) that isn’t actually technology at all. And it requires a clear designation of someone who has the expertise, responsibility, and authority to fully own each area.
Consider this example: Who owns your website?
If you have a simple answer to that simple question, you probably also have a whole lot of website pain.
Because it shouldn’t actually be simple. A website is a complex, living ecosystem, with numerous different areas of expertise needed to make sure it’s beautiful, functional, and strategic. It is (or should be) a bustling metropolis, requiring a network of specialists to own different pieces of the puzzle.
Someone needs to determine the overall purpose of the website, its main audiences and the key user pathways. Someone needs to worry about it having beautiful, effective design and intuitive user experience. Someone needs to write compelling, concise words that describe your organization and its programs. Someone needs to make sure it’s on the right technical platform and worry about important platform upgrades. Someone needs to make sure it has beautiful imagery that communicates just the right message. Someone needs to make sure it collects information efficiently from users and that the data ends up in the right place. Someone needs to worry about keeping the content relevant and updated for each subject area. Someone needs to chase down bugs. Someone needs to implement new ideas when opportunities arise. Someone needs to conduct and coordinate the entire symphony. And so on, and so on.
Subjective decisions MUST be made
Most of these are subjective, strategic decisions. There is usually no inherent, objective, correct answer. Someone has to assess a universe of possibilities and make calls about the way forward. And they have to do that not just once, but day after day, as new subjects arise to be highlighted, or as the landscape changes.
Who makes these subjective calls?
The answer is: different people have to make different kinds of calls. Your job as an organization is to clarify those areas sensibly, and clarify the owners of each area so everyone knows who owns what.
Expertise, Responsibility, and Authority
How? By aligning these three key elements: expertise, responsibility, and authority. Two out of three doesn't cut it.
A depth of expertise is required in order to make informed decisions based on legitimate, earned mastery of the subject area. Without expertise, people who are responsible are in over their head, and deciders don’t have the full scope of information they need.
The responsibility must also be clearly designated, executed, and delivered upon, so that the mandate is clear and colleagues trust that this person will own and deliver on their area. Without responsibility, the opportunity is fumbled for those with expertise to apply that expertise to the benefit of the product and the organization.
The authority has to be legitimate, recognized, and respected. Without authority, expertise gets undermined and diluted, robbing the organization of the very value of that expertise in the first place. Thoughtful challenges and discussions are a healthy and welcomed part of getting to better outcomes. But if you have a trusted expert with the responsibility for an important area of work, give them the authority to get it done.
At the end of the day it’s about getting the right folks in the right roles and clarifying who makes all of the relevant subjective decisions in each area. These designations can change and be adjusted as time goes on.
Sample high level Expertise/Responsibility/Authority grid for a website
Get it clarified and socialized
But whatever they are, get these designations defined and out in the open. Give people clear mandates where they have the responsibility and authority to geek out on their areas of expertise. And give others clear channels for input to the relevant owner of that area.
That’s when things start to really function. Your blue team can now focus on their areas of expertise perpetually improving your platforms, working closely hand in hand with the portfolio of clearly-designated gold team owners with the expertise, responsibility, and authority to own each subjective piece of the complex overall puzzle.
That hand-in-hand, respected collaboration of experts is what will bring your technology platforms to thriving, functional, impactful life.