Power and Mandate, Chapter 6, Stitch In Time, 5M Leadership
Decision Rights Architecture
Three structural elements: Decision Registry, Override Protocol, Authority Audit. The framework that ensures every significant decision is made at the right level with the right override conditions in place before the critical moment.
The organizational structure that ensures every significant decision is made by the right person, at the right level, with the right override conditions in place, before the critical moment arrives. Deepwater Horizon had authority. It did not have this framework.
Question 1
Who decides what?
Question 2
When can they be overridden?
Question 3
How do we know it is working?
01
📋
Decision Registry
Document who decides what, at which level, under what conditions.
How it works
Every significant decision category is named and assigned to a specific role or level
Conditions under which that authority applies are specified in advance
Escalation path is documented, if conditions are not met, who receives the decision
Registry is known to all parties before the critical moment
Deepwater application
Decision: declare well safe after test. Authority: BP Well Site Leader. Conditions: zero anomalies, OR anomalies explained by standard well control. Escalation: disputed interpretation goes to Regional VP.
02
🔒
Override Protocol
Five conditions that allow any level to invoke escalation, regardless of hierarchy.
Five override conditions
Safety risk, any credible threat to personnel or environment
Legal exposure, potential regulatory or criminal liability
Regulatory violation, breach of a documented standard or permit condition
Catastrophic consequence, potential for irreversible organizational or physical harm
Fundamental error, decision contradicts documented technical standard
Deepwater application
Harrell invokes Override Protocol at 5:30 PM. Condition 1 (safety risk) triggered. Condition 4 (catastrophic consequence) triggered. Decision cannot be made at well site level. It escalates.
03
📊
Authority Audit
Quarterly review tracking decision drift and override usage.
Four audit metrics
Decision inventory, which decisions were made, by whom, at what level
Override usage, were overrides invoked? If not, why not when conditions were met?
Authority drift, where practice has diverged from the Decision Registry
Clarity record, whether authority was clear before critical decisions were made
Deepwater application
A quarterly audit would have surfaced that well site leaders were making contested safety calls without escalation. The drift between stated policy and operational reality would have been visible before a critical well was reached.
"Who really decides in your organization? And does everyone know, before the critical moment?"
Cost of unclear authority$65B
Lives lost11
5M Leadership Consulting
Is decision authority unclear in your organization?
The Mandate Charter, Correction Channel, and Authority Map are the full implementation instruments in Stitch In Time Chapter 6. I.S. Matthew works with boards and executive teams to design and install Decision Rights Architecture across complex organizations.
