---
id: "quote-tailoring-roles"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ Mistake 4"]
tags: ["agility", "hierarchy"]
related: ["claim-senior-leaders-over-accountable"]
speaker: "Lindy Greer, Jennifer Jordan and Maxim Sytch"
speakers: ["Lindy Greer", "Jennifer Jordan", "Maxim Sytch"]
quote: "The best teams are intentional about tailoring roles to the topic at hand. They don't get mired in ingrained patterns of power or deference to the formal org chart."
sources: ["governance"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-governance"
originDay: 7
articleStem: "hbr-sig-48-decision-rights"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/07/what-companies-get-wrong-about-decision-rights"
sourceTitle: "What Companies Get Wrong About Decision Rights"
---
# Tailoring Roles to the Topic

> The best teams are intentional about tailoring roles to the topic at hand. They don't get mired in ingrained patterns of power or deference to the formal org chart.
>
> — [[entity-lindy-greer|Lindy Greer]], [[entity-jennifer-jordan|Jennifer Jordan]] & [[entity-maxim-sytch|Maxim Sytch]]

The antidote to Mistake 4 ('getting stuck in the same roles'). It supports [[claim-senior-leaders-over-accountable]] and motivates [[action-limit-senior-decisions]] and [[action-embed-raci-cues]].