---
id: "claim-roles-before-goals-turf-wars"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["¶4"]
tags: ["team-dynamics", "conflict-resolution"]
related: ["framework-decision-rights-mistakes", "action-define-goals-first"]
speakers: ["Lindy Greer", "Maxim Sytch", "Jennifer Jordan"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
sources: ["tail1"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail1"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-tail-106-decision-frameworks-fail"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/gg-why-decision-making-frameworks-fail"
sourceTitle: "Why Decision-Making Frameworks Fail"
---
# Assigning Roles Before Goals Causes Turf Wars

**Claim (confidence: high, testable).** According to [[entity-lindy-greer]], [[entity-maxim-sytch]], and [[entity-jennifer-jordan]], attempting to assign decision-making roles *before objectives have been carefully defined* causes discussions to degenerate into **ego-driven turf wars**.

The qualification matters: if the underlying goals are **too broad or too narrow**, it becomes nearly impossible to accurately identify who should own which piece of the decision-making process. Goal-clarity is therefore a prerequisite to role-clarity, not a parallel activity.

This is failure mode #1 in [[framework-decision-rights-mistakes]] and the direct rationale for [[action-define-goals-first]]. See also the parent concept [[concept-decision-rights]].