Some decisions wait months to be made — not because they are hard, but because no one is allowed to make them.
The same item had returned to the agenda three times. Everyone agreed it mattered. Nobody moved it. The analysis was never the problem. One line was missing: who owns the call.
• Finance assumed IT would make the call — it was their system.
• IT assumed Finance would release it — it was their budget.
Both were waiting. Neither was wrong. The structure simply had no line that said this decision belongs to this role.
A decision needs an owner before it needs data.
When ownership is unassigned, the decision is not debated. It is deferred. And deferral looks like diligence — nobody is ever blamed for wanting to be sure. So the item survives, month after month, quietly gathering slides.
I have sat in those rooms. The real discussion is never "should we do this." It is "whose call is this" — except that part is never said out loud.
The next time a decision keeps returning to your steering committee untouched, it may not be waiting for a cleaner number. It may be waiting for a name.
Cordula Buss · Plan A2C / Helping finance and programme leaders build steering logic that works.