Ownership
Ownership makes organizations successful.
In successful organizations, people see what needs to be done to reach a larger goal.
Why isn't that the case everywhere? And how can that be achieved?
People check their responsibility at the door, like a coat.— Thomas, Division Head
"I just can't understand it. When they are driving on vacation and the highway is closed 50 km ahead of them, they'd never think of just standing there and waiting until the closure is lifted. They'd get off the highway and try to find an alternative route.
But when they get to the office, they check all their responsibility at the entrance, like a coat. They just wait for someone else to solve whatever problem is in front of them. Even if they could solve it themselves with a bit more effort and thereby save an entire development cycle."
Thomas is not alone in his thinking. Many business owners and executives wish that their employees would take on more ownership. They just don't know how to achieve that.
How this manifests
The loss of responsibility rarely shows up as a big crisis. It shows up in lots of small symptoms that, taken together, can paralyze an entire organization:
- Decisions pile back up.Leaders get even the smallest decisions back on their desk, because nobody below them is willing to make them themselves.
- Projects get delayed.Everyone knows the gaps in the process and the steps that could close them. But nobody takes the reins.
- Problems grow unnoticed.Everyone only looks at their own small area of decision-making and lets problems grow until they become insurmountable.
No single symptom can be solved with more communication, dedicated trainings or sharper appeals.
Better addresses, purpose workshops, RACIs and role descriptions – this is where most companies start. For business owners and executives, this is often the obvious path, because it seems to address exactly the problems that exist in the company:
• Decisions are left sitting because nobody wants to take responsibility for them? A role description fixes the lack of clarity.
• Projects fizzle out because nobody solves a problem? More communication about the we-mindset motivates action.
Suddenly you are facing a mountain of problems that should never have grown so big in the first place, if everyone had shown just a little more commitment.
This actionism only leads to more work for everyone, to more dissatisfaction with the conditions and to frustration when the results fail to appear. This is where an endless loop of action and reaction begins that can wear down the whole organization permanently.
That happens because the real problems lie at least one level deeper:
• In the structure the organization finds itself in.
• In the information that is accessible to people.
• In the disposition each individual brings with them.
From this emerges a triangle in which ownership is carried by three strong pillars.
The Ownership Triangle
Able to. Safe to. Want to.
Able to
The real ability to fulfill responsibility, through one's own competence and resources, decision-making authority.
- Design
- Competence
- Self-efficacy
Safe to
The space created from outside in which people dare to actually take on responsibility, without fear of mistakes or loss of power.
- Culture
- Trust
- Risk tolerance
Want to
The inner drive to take on responsibility out of genuine interest in the outcome, not out of a sense of duty.
- Reward
- Purpose
- Intrinsic motivation
Close the Ownership Triangle.
Ownership is not a personality trait.
It is the result of whether Able to, Safe to and Want to actually come together, strengthened, in an organization.
Ownership is more than the mere assumption of responsibility when a gap appears. It is a multilayered feeling made up of psychological and procedural safety, entrepreneurial thinking and genuine belonging.
The three pillars “Able to”, “Safe to” and “Want to” are the basis, each of them built with blocks of structure, information and disposition. This construct can be strong once it has been built cleanly. But if individual blocks are only handled provisionally from the start, it collapses in on itself.
We work together on every element of the three pillars, so that ownership in your company stands on a strong basis. In doing so, we look not at individual symptoms but at the blocks behind them: where is structure missing, where is information missing, where is disposition missing?
This way, no stopgap arises, but a foundation that holds: in the keynote that sets the first impulse, in the workshop that closes concrete gaps, and in the consulting that works on the statics in the long term.
How we can work together
Keynote
The entry point for leaders and teams: a keynote that makes the ownership model tangible and sets the first impulse.
More on the keynote →
Assessment
The quick positioning for decision-makers: with benchmarks against other companies and concrete recommendations for action for your own organization.
More on the Assessment →
Consulting
From a focused workshop to a lasting partnership: support that anchors ownership structurally, in three levels.
More on consulting →
About me
For over 15 years I have been supporting change in corporations and mid-sized companies – as a consultant, keynote speaker and author. My experience: ownership cannot be forced, but it can be enabled in a targeted way.
More about me →Ready to change the entrance?
Let's talk – about a keynote, a workshop, or the next step for your organization.
Get in Touch