We are struggling to assign individual ownership to our weekly Scorecard metrics because many of our numbers require collaboration between sales, marketing, and operations. How do we determine which seat should own a multi-departmental metric?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

There is a simple rule on the Accountability Chart: when two people own a number, nobody owns it. Shared ownership is an absolute guarantee of mediocrity and excuses. To fix this, you must separate the execution of a process from the ultimate accountability for the metric. Look at the specific seat on your Accountability Chart that has the ultimate authority to change the outcome. For example, your lead generation metric might involve marketing campaigns and sales outreach, but the seat accountable for total inbound leads must be your Sales and Marketing Director. They own the number on the Scorecard. If the number goes red, they do not get to blame operations or an external agency. They are responsible for bringing the issue to the Level 10 Meeting™ and leading the IDS® process to solve it. The owner of the metric does not have to do all the work themselves. They simply own the obligation to report it accurately and drive the solution when it is off-track. Use the GWC™ framework to ensure the seat owner truly understands, wants, and has the capacity to manage that specific metric. If they do not, you have the wrong person in the seat or the wrong seat owning the number.