The situation
Several DSD teams have equity improvements ready, each waiting on the same approval step. The step exists because of a past problem no one can describe. Staff have begun to treat the process as immovable.
Fictional worked example
Separate the safeguard from the waiting
A fictional decision record can make a stalled approval discussable without assuming the step can simply be bypassed.
Recover the reason
Find what risk the approval step was meant to address and the evidence that it still needs this treatment.
Is the reason documented or only repeated as a habit?
Identify the decision right
Name the role with authority to retain, revise or remove the step and what that role needs to decide.
Which teams and people bear the cost of waiting?
Compare a proportionate alternative
Describe another way to address the risk, its resources and limits, and the point at which results would be reviewed.
Who can agree the change and explain the decision to the waiting teams?
Bring it into your work: Bring the owner a short comparison: purpose, current delay, affected work, alternative and follow-up. A process map can expose an unresolved decision; it cannot supply the authority to make it.
What to notice first
- Diffuse responsibility and approval bottlenecks were named repeatedly in DSD listening.
- The step is a choice someone made, which means it can be changed.
- Decision rights are unclear, so nothing moves.
Questions to ask before acting
- Who actually holds the decision right for this step, and what would they need to decide?
- What problem was the step meant to solve, and is there a lighter way to solve it?
- What is the cost of waiting, for whom?
Practical next moves
Who to involve
Bring the pattern to division leadership with a proposed decision record. DSD staff can request a consultation to prepare it.