Overview
Traditional hierarchical leadership models struggle in fast-moving, knowledge-based organisations. This article explains agile ownership and shared autonomy, exploring how decision-making, responsibility, and accountability can be distributed across self-organising teams. It clarifies what shared ownership really means, why it matters, and how it enables organisations to move beyond control-based leadership toward sustainable, empowered performance.
Introduction
The majority of the business world today operates in a triangular bureaucracy model. Most people start at the bottom and gradually work their way to the top, climbing the corporate ladder until finally reaching the ultimate goal: CEO status. However, agile ownership is evolving, which upends everything.
Reaching CEO status is the ultimate achievement for many people, but sadly, often for the wrong reasons. Many people in managerial and higher positions aren’t there because of an inherent desire to serve. Instead, they are searching for the role’s freedom, control, and recognition. A deep passion for ownership is at the heart of leadership.
But what if you can have ownership and autonomy without being the leader of the pack?
The software development industry asked this same question after realising traditional management models no longer work. Knowledge workers inherently need decision-making power and authority in their domain for it to work. If teams have to ask for permission or wait for stakeholders’ consensus permanently, the software will never ship.
And that’s precisely what happened, which is why the Agile Manifesto was born.
Agile Ownership and Autonomy
At the heart of agile are small, self-organising teams; work is not assigned to anyone; instead, the business presents what needs to be done, selling it to the team. The team, in turn, picks what they feel they can commit to based on the time and skills available. Agile leaders don’t tell the team how to deliver; the teams themselves decide how best to get results and which tools they need to get the job done.
Suddenly, autonomy and ownership become central to all teams within the organisation at the management or C-levels.
Sooner or later, the traditional organisational structure starts crumbling, and with that, the silos. As Jason Bloomberg points out in his post on digital transformations, restructuring and reorganisation are necessary.
An agile ownership transformation requires the decision-making power to be balanced and shared among everyone in the organisation. Agile transformation doesn’t demand a restructure at some stage during the journey; you’re probably doing it wrong.
Ownership and Autonomy
Once you’ve settled on a shared ownership model, the rewards far outweigh the hardships you endured to get there. But to get there, the first step is to examine what ownership is and is not.
In a previous post, I discussed the skills needed to work as an autonomous team. Respect and honest communication are at the core of successful autonomy within a team. In this post, I want to explore ownership and its relationship to independence.
There Can Be Only One. Or Can There?
Ownership is a very misunderstood concept, especially when viewed through the eyes of a bureaucratic organisation. It is believed that only one person can have decision-making power.
What if there doesn’t have to be just one decision maker? What if better decisions can be made the more people contribute to the solution?
Various studies in organisations have indicated that participation is a key factor in determining the success or failure of any change initiative. Thus, it makes sense that shared ownership is an essential aspect of any form of transformation.
The only unanswered question is how we do it. A follow-up post will discuss how to do it, but first, let’s examine shared ownership.
Shared Ownership Defined
Based on empirical evidence and heuristic techniques from successful and failed agile transformations, I see shared ownership involved here.
1. Shared Ownership Can’t Exist Without a Shared Purpose
Shared ownership must start with a shared vision or purpose. It’s not enough to follow the rules as the leader envisions them. Shared ownership requires the involvement and engagement of every team member.
Much like a rugby team, each player needs to be clear on the vision and believe in it for the team to succeed. A rugby team can’t win when each player has their own agenda. For the team to win the game, they must work together.
When a work team believes in a shared vision, each person inherently feels a sense of ownership, regardless of their role in the organisation. Suddenly, the organisation becomes a practical arrangement rather than a race to be the “one.”
2. Shared Ownership is Not Mutually Exclusive
Ownership is not the same as authority. When you “own” a specific knowledge area or work area, it doesn’t mean you are the sole decision-maker.
It’s more like a choir than a solo artist. The more members in the choir, the richer and more beautiful the experience becomes. Even when there are a few talented solo artists, they know when to blend in with the rest of the choir and when to stand out and sing along.
Results and progress are more important than one individual. There is not one authority figure who is responsible for all the answers. Instead, it depends on the question. Sometimes you need a soloist, and at other times, more bass and tenors. Each choir member is equally important for the end product to be a masterpiece.
3. Ownership is Not the Same as Belonging
When you own a knowledge or work area, it doesn’t mean you make all the decisions and can do with it as you please. It means that you are responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of that area.
Much like having a child, you don’t own him but are responsible for caring for him. Your primary responsibility as a parent is to help him fulfil his potential. At times, it might mean you have to leave your precious child in the care of someone else.
Shared ownership similarly requires that you have the best interest of the domain you “own” at heart. You know when to ask for assistance and when to entrust it to another team or give it up totally.
4. Shared Ownership Requires Voluntary Role Distribution
The hardest part of transitioning to shared ownership is probably the distribution of decision-making among team members. This means that what the leader has worked so hard for now has to be given up willingly to the team members.
It also means that the leader has to watch as team members, not yet ready for a specific role, make mistakes as they grow into that role. This is hard for the team members and even harder for the organisation. Returning to the metaphor of a child, shared ownership and role distribution can be likened to watching your child’s independence grow as they mature. Sometimes it is easy and welcome to allow them new freedom, other times it is hard to watch your child make mistakes and get hurt.
But any loving parent realises that they can’t hold on forever, and by letting go, they are empowering their child. The same is true with shared ownership. When the leader lets go of his responsibilities and shares them with his team, he is empowering people. He now transitions into a mentoring and coaching role, enabling and empowering, rather than controlling and demanding.
5. Ownership Includes Both the Good and the Bad
With shared ownership comes shared responsibility. Team members often rush to volunteer to take over responsibilities, not realising that they are now the ones to blame when things don’t go as planned. Sitting back while the manager takes all the responsibility for what went wrong is unacceptable.
When you own a dog, you enjoy outdoor walks and playtime. You also clean up after your dog, wash and groom it regularly, and ensure it is looked after when you are away.
Ownership requires that you take responsibility for both sides of the coin—the good and the bad.
A Crucial Element In Agile Ownership
Shared ownership is crucial for any business to thrive in the digital age. It calls for personal leadership in which each person on the team takes equal responsibility and works towards a shared goal.
