Permission Cascade

When decisions span teams, permission requirements multiply. Each boundary crossing introduces a new approval layer. Latency scales with organizational distance.

## Trigger Signals

• Each team boundary adds an approval layer
• Cross-functional decisions stall at handoffs
• Latency scales with organizational distance
• "We need sign-off from their side too"

## Why It Persists

Each team's approval requirement is locally rational. No one owns the total latency. The cost is distributed across boundaries and invisible from any single vantage point.

## Common Misdiagnosis

• "We need better cross-functional collaboration"
• "Teams are siloed"
• "We should co-locate more"
• "This is a communication problem"

## Cost of Ignoring

Multi-team initiatives stall at every handoff. Speed becomes impossible for anything that spans boundaries. Work routes around the structure rather than through it.

• Each team boundary adds an approval layer
• Cross-functional decisions stall at handoffs
• Latency scales with organizational distance
• "We need sign-off from their side too"

## Why It Persists

Each team's approval requirement is locally rational. No one owns the total latency. The cost is distributed across boundaries and invisible from any single vantage point.

## Common Misdiagnosis

• "We need better cross-functional collaboration"
• "Teams are siloed"
• "We should co-locate more"
• "This is a communication problem"

## Cost of Ignoring

Multi-team initiatives stall at every handoff. Speed becomes impossible for anything that spans boundaries. Work routes around the structure rather than through it.

Each team's approval requirement is locally rational. No one owns the total latency. The cost is distributed across boundaries and invisible from any single vantage point.

## Common Misdiagnosis

• "We need better cross-functional collaboration"
• "Teams are siloed"
• "We should co-locate more"
• "This is a communication problem"

## Cost of Ignoring

Multi-team initiatives stall at every handoff. Speed becomes impossible for anything that spans boundaries. Work routes around the structure rather than through it.

When decisions span teams, each boundary requires its own approval. Permission requirements multiply with organizational distance. Latency is structural, not behavioral.

## What It Looks Like In the Wild

When decisions span teams, permission requirements multiply. Each boundary crossing introduces a new approval layer. Latency scales with organizational distance.

## Trigger Signals

• Each team boundary adds an approval layer
• Cross-functional decisions stall at handoffs
• Latency scales with organizational distance
• "We need sign-off from their side too"

## Why It Persists

Each team's approval requirement is locally rational. No one owns the total latency. The cost is distributed across boundaries and invisible from any single vantage point.

## Common Misdiagnosis

• "We need better cross-functional collaboration"
• "Teams are siloed"
• "We should co-locate more"
• "This is a communication problem"

## Cost of Ignoring

Multi-team initiatives stall at every handoff. Speed becomes impossible for anything that spans boundaries. Work routes around the structure rather than through it.

• "We need better cross-functional collaboration"
• "Teams are siloed"
• "We should co-locate more"
• "This is a communication problem"

## Cost of Ignoring

Multi-team initiatives stall at every handoff. Speed becomes impossible for anything that spans boundaries. Work routes around the structure rather than through it.

Multi-team initiatives stall at every handoff. Speed becomes impossible for anything that spans boundaries. Work routes around the structure rather than through it.