Responsibility Compression at the Edge

The people closest to the work carry the most responsibility but have the least authority to change outcomes.

Responsibility is progressively pushed downward until it concentrates at the execution layer. Decision rights, context, and ownership remain upstream. The system appears functional because humans compensate.

• Frontline teams improvising to "get it done"
• Senior leaders saying "they'll figure it out"
• Escalations resolved through favors, not process
• Hero performers quietly preventing visible failure
• No single owner for end-to-end outcomes

• "They'll figure it out"
• Added training without redesign
• Manual workarounds
• Heroic behavior

Because the system rewards continuity, not correction. Human compensation masks structural gaps, allowing leadership to avoid redesign while still meeting short-term goals.

This pattern is often invisible to leadership because outcomes continue to be met in the short term. Human effort absorbs design debt until a threshold event forces exposure.

• "This is a training issue"
• "We need more accountability"
• "We need stronger execution"

Burnout concentrates at the edge. Institutional knowledge becomes fragile. Failures surface suddenly and are misattributed to individuals rather than structure.

• FM-01 Responsibility Compression at the Edge
• FM-02 Escalation Inversion
• FM-03 Responsibility Without Authority
• FM-04 Metric Shadowing
• FM-05 Normalized Workarounds