Rule 8 of 33 · Chapter II — How Decisions Get Made
Name the owner before you start
Why this rule exists
A decision that belongs to everyone belongs to no one, and it drifts. When five people all have opinions and none of them has the pen, the conversation loops, the same points get re-raised, and eventually the decision gets made by exhaustion or by whoever outlasts the others, which is a terrible way to choose. Naming a single owner up front doesn't mean that person decides alone; it means someone is accountable for gathering input, weighing it, making the call, and writing it down. The owner is the person the rest of us can hold responsible for the decision existing, not for it being perfect. This is how we get the benefits of wide input without the paralysis of design-by-committee. Clarity about who decides is often more valuable than who actually gets decided, because ambiguity is the thing that kills momentum.
In practice
At the start of any non-trivial decision, say out loud who owns it. Pick the person closest to the work and the consequences, not the most senior person by reflex. The owner's job is to consult the people with relevant context, genuinely weigh what they hear, and then decide and document, on a stated timeline. Everyone else's job is to give their input clearly, once, and then support the outcome even if it wasn't their preference. If you're the owner, set a deadline for yourself, because an open decision is a cost accruing daily. If you're not, resist the urge to keep relitigating after the call is made; disagree-and-commit is the deal.
When it doesn't apply
Genuinely reversible, low-stakes calls don't need a named owner; just make them and move. And decisions that reshape the whole company, our direction, who we hire, how we're funded, are owned by the founders, though the same write-it-down discipline applies with more input, not less.