Authority, accountability, and competence must align: give people authority only when they can competently decide, preventing mis-delegated decisions that cost quality and speed.
Authority, accountability, and competence form a three-way lock that keeps decision quality high. A leader who hands out authority without matching competence opens the door to costly mistakes, while withholding authority from those who can handle it stifles momentum.
The article illustrates this with a shipping clerk asked to set engineering specs for a raw material. The clerk can receive the part, but the technical nuance of specification belongs to an engineer. Delegating the decision to the wrong person creates risk, delays, and rework.
Technical leaders should audit delegated authority against demonstrated competence, tighten the feedback loop, and adjust roles before decisions are made. By aligning authority with skill, teams move faster, errors drop, and accountability stays meaningful.
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