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Imagine driving a car where the steering wheel isn’t directly connected to the wheels.
You can see where you want to go. But every turn depends on other parts of the system responding.
Some work can feel surprisingly similar.
An outcome may sit within our responsibility, while many of the decisions and contributions needed to achieve it sit elsewhere.
So we learn to influence: build trust, understand different interests and create alignment without relying on authority.
But somewhere along the way, an invisible rule can form:
If I’m responsible for the outcome, I must find a way to make it happen.
That rule can encourage initiative. It can also quietly expand what we believe we need to carry.
At an organizational level, this can be difficult to see.
When people become skilled at navigating dependencies and bridging gaps, the outcome is visible. The effort behind it often isn’t.
None of this is necessarily a problem. Complex work requires collaboration.
But an invisible rule can support performance for a long time before its cost becomes visible. Sometimes as exhaustion, long before anyone questions the rule itself.
So instead of asking:
How do we get people to take more ownership?
Perhaps we should also ask:
What do people think ownership means for them?
