Our Marketing Director and Product Director are constantly fighting over our shared development resources, and it is stalling both of their Rocks. How do we resolve this structural resource conflict?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Shared resources are a common breeding ground for peer conflict and political friction. When two distinct leadership seats rely on the same internal team to achieve their Rocks, they will naturally clash over priorities. This is a structural issue, not a personal one.

To resolve this conflict and get your operations moving again, follow these steps:
- First, review the Accountability Chart. Having two people fight over a single resource means the lines of authority are blurry. You must define who has the final decision-making power over resource allocation. Often, this is the Integrator.
- Second, prioritize your Rocks at the quarterly offsite. Not all Rocks are created equal. The leadership team must collectively agree on which Rocks are the highest priority for the company. Once that hierarchy is set, resource allocation becomes objective, not political.
- Third, create a formal request and intake process for the shared resource. This removes emotion from the equation and forces both directors to submit clear business cases for their projects.
- Fourth, bring the issue to your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ and use IDS® to solve resource bottlenecks before they stall execution.

If the shared resource is constantly over capacity, it is a capacity constraint that you must solve by either hiring more help or reducing the scope of your quarterly goals. Do not let your leaders fight over scraps. Clean, structured operations are essential for building a healthy business.