I didn't know who was supposed to do what

I have experienced complete chaos in my career. It’s the feeling you get when you find yourself on a ship with many hands pulling at the rudder, but no one knows where you're going.

We had a situation like this when we were a group of enthusiastic owners, but we hadn't agreed on who would handle what. It led to a situation where everyone was responsible for everything, which ultimately meant that no one was responsible for anything. Things didn't move forward because everyone had their own opinion, but there was no shared direction. And when things went wrong, the finger-pointing began.

The same phenomenon is also common in larger organizations. There, you might have roles that just "float" within the organization without a clear purpose or responsibility. These "floating roles" cause confusion and slow down everyone's work. Ambiguity is like a cancer that destroys a team's motivation.

So why are clear roles and responsibilities so important? Because they create the foundation for trust and psychological safety, which Ed Catmull talks about in his book Creativity, Inc. When people know what is expected of them, they can focus on their work and feel secure. When responsibilities are unclear, a culture of fear emerges, where people are afraid to make mistakes.

I learned a hard lesson from this: Clear roles and responsibilities are not bureaucracy; they are a prerequisite for agility and creativity. They create a safe space where people can thrive and focus on creating value instead of fighting amongst themselves.