Accountability Sinks

Martin Sustrik's deep dive reveals how formal processes can become "accountability sinks" that strip human judgment from decision-making, transforming organizational systems into impersonal, unaccountable machines. By examining provocative case studies from airport mishaps to Holocaust bureaucracy, the essay exposes how seemingly efficient processes can create dangerous systemic blind spots that remove individual responsibility and human empathy. Engineering leaders will gain critical insights into designing organizational structures that balance process efficiency with meaningful human accountability.