How many executives does it take to approve a broken office chair? In one organisation I advised, the answer was seven.
The request moved from Administration to Procurement, Finance, Risk, Legal, the Executive Committee and, eventually, the Chief Executive Officer. By the time approval arrived, the employee had borrowed a chair from the boardroom.
It was humorous. The financial consequences were not.
Most companies have a problem when it comes to approvals. As they say, weak men hide behind bureaucracy to appear strong. Every unnecessary layer increases transaction costs, slows revenue conversion and weakens accountability. Staff spend productive hours preparing memos, defending routine decisions and attending meetings whose only output is another meeting.
The damage eventually appears in the numbers. The cost-to-income ratio rises because administrative effort grows faster than revenue. Working capital remains trapped because collections, purchases and customer decisions take too long. Return on assets declines because expensive systems, people and capital wait for signatures instead of producing value.
Boards often respond by demanding cost cuts. That is treating a fever while ignoring the infection. When I conduct a strategic deep dive, I examine decision flow like a medical doctor examining blood circulation. Where does work stop? Who has authority? Which approval genuinely reduces risk, and which one merely protects someone from blame? That way we are able to understand the decision rights and how to delegate strategically without suffocating the business.
In the organisation with the broken chair, we introduced a Decision Velocity Test. For every recurring decision, management had to answer three questions:
- a) What is the financial exposure?
- b) Who is closest to the facts?
- c) What control would allow that person to decide safely?
Routine approvals were delegated. Financial thresholds were clarified. Decisions requiring more than three signatures were challenged. Turnaround times became measurable executive indicators.
Within months, purchasing cycles shortened, customer complaints declined and managers recovered hours previously lost to bureaucracy. The leadership challenge is not to remove control. It is to remove control theatre.
A well-governed company is not one where everybody approves everything. It is one where the right person decides quickly, within clear limits, and remains accountable for the result. Complexity feels safe. Until a simpler competitor takes your customers.
I remain Mr. Strategy
