---
id: "quote-soccer-game-d1"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["¶2"]
tags: ["metaphor", "chaos"]
related: ["concept-decision-rights"]
speaker: "Unnamed global e-commerce manager"
speakers: ["Unnamed global e-commerce manager"]
quote: "Decision rights are like the position plan for a children's soccer game—a nice plan on paper that no one understands or remembers."
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"
---
# Decision Rights as a Children's Soccer Game

> *"Decision rights are like the position plan for a children's soccer game—a nice plan on paper that no one understands or remembers."*
> — **Unnamed global e-commerce manager**

This metaphor is the emotional hook for the parent concept [[concept-decision-rights]]: a theoretical framework that looks orderly on paper but collapses into chaos the moment real people start playing. It sets up the four failure modes in [[framework-decision-rights-mistakes]].