We are redesigning our Accountability Chart to prepare for a clean exit, but my leadership team keeps fighting over which department gets to control our digital product development. How do we break this deadlock?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This deadlock happens because your leaders are designing the structure around their personal territories and egos rather than what is best for the business. To break this, you must temporarily remove all names from your Accountability Chart.

In EOS®, we always design the Accountability Chart with blank seats first. Ask your leadership team to step out of their current roles and put on their owner hats. Use a dedicated Thinking Time session to answer one question: what is the absolute best, most logical structure to deliver our digital products profitably and scale the business?

Once you look at the structure objectively, the logical flow of accountability becomes clear. Usually, digital product development should live under either Product or Technology, reporting directly to the Integrator, rather than being split across sales or marketing.

Only after you have agreed on the perfect, empty structure do you begin placing names back into the seats. This separates the design of the business from personal survival and empire-building. If a leader cannot agree to a structure that serves the greater good of the company, you have a right-person-right-seat issue that must be addressed immediately.