Decision

A decision is a choice between options that commits a person or a group to a course of action. In a role-based organization, who makes each decision is written down before the question comes up, so nobody has to send it up the hierarchy.

Operational and governance decisions

Role-based governance separates two kinds of decisions.

• Operational decisions settle the work itself: which client to call back first, how to spend a budget line, when to ship. The person who holds the role makes them alone, inside its domain, and asks others for advice when it helps.
• Governance decisions change the structure: creating a role, changing its accountabilities, setting a policy that applies to several roles. Sociocracy and holacracy take them by consent in a governance meeting. A proposal passes once nobody raises a reasoned objection.

Why distribute decisions

In a traditional hierarchy, a question climbs to the manager who has authority over it and waits in their queue. When roles carry their own decision rights, the person closest to the problem decides. The team then spends its meeting time deciding who decides what, rather than settling each case. The organization also reacts faster to a change, because the person who has to act already holds the authority.

A decision only helps if people can find it later. Teams that record each decision with its date, its scope and its author stop reopening questions they already settled.