Decision bottleneck: what it is and what it means

The decision bottleneck is an organizational pattern that appears when the founder remains the decision-making hub for every operational issue even after building a middle layer of management. The organization has learned that without the founder nothing gets decided. It produces visible effects in the calendar: a schedule packed with 15-minute micro-meetings, approval requests in the evening, a constant feeling of having no time for strategic decisions.

Distinctive: the founder remains the decision-making hub for every operational issue
Distinctive: the organization has learned that without the founder nothing gets decided
Essential: even after building a middle layer of management
Essential: schedule packed with 15-minute micro-meetings
Constant: approval requests in the evening
Constant: constant feeling of having no time for strategic decisions

Glossary

Decision bottleneck

An organizational pattern in which the founder remains the decision-making hub for every operational issue, even after building a middle layer of management.