This article expands on the “Boundaries and Responsibility” thread in Management Retrospective.

If “having a sense of ownership” is understood as always taking on work and always staying online, the boundary of responsibility disappears. Responsibility is a reasonable commitment and delivery. This topic came from a real observation — a colleague mentioned that, compared with a year or two ago, fewer people on the team were proactively taking on responsibility. The real way to judge “whether this is a problem” is to ask clearly: who can decide, who executes, when risks must be escalated, and where one’s own responsibility ends.

Prepare Your Own Feelings

First, think it through: what is your intuition about the word “Owner”? Is it motivation, or taking the blame?

  • Are there colleagues around you proactively taking on the Owner role?
  • Do you want to be an Owner and lead a project yourself? Is being an Owner a form of motivation, or does it feel like taking the blame?
  • Do I clearly understand what an Owner needs to do?
  • Can I do well the things an Owner needs to do?
  • Am I clear on and familiar with the R&D process standards? (requirements review, technical review, test case review, information sync during development, self-testing, walkthrough handoff, on-time launch, following up on online results)
  • Do I want to tell others what I’ve done and what benefits came of it? Can I explain it clearly?
  • What does my ideal self look like? What does my ideal team look like?

Points to Discuss

When you talk, first confirm “whether what you see is a problem,” then talk about “who takes responsibility.”

  • Do you feel the colleagues around you are proactively taking on the Owner role? Do you want to yourself?
  • Can I clearly say what an Owner needs to do? Is my process knowledge sufficient?
  • For cross-team collaboration (product, operations, client, server, recommendation, testing), which parts feel smooth and which are blind spots?
  • For the team, what would you like to standardize or contribute?
  • How do you feel about the team’s combat strength? Is the current pace the most efficient? Where can it be optimized?
  • On trust: do you trust the people on the team? Do you feel trusted?
  • How does your work state feel: positive, with feedback and a sense of achievement? Or negative, tired, and anxious?
  • What does my ideal self and my ideal team look like? Where is the gap?
  • Faced with a problem that has no clear owner, what would you do first: describe the phenomenon, find the right person, propose the smallest next step, or escalate?

Real initiative is not grabbing tasks, nor expressing opinions at every turn; it is turning a problem worth solving into a path that people are willing to walk together to the end. It means taking charge of four things: describing the phenomenon and its impact, finding the people who should take part in the judgment, proposing an actionable next step, and escalating the risk to the right place when it can’t move forward.

Venting and Feedback

  • Everyone I work with is too eager to shift the blame.
  • The point of contact is unclear; when a problem comes up, I can’t find anyone.
  • Being on call and just forwarding like a router is exhausting.
  • I put in more than others, but collaboration still isn’t smooth.
  • I feel like you’ve been in a bad state lately.
  • And ______

The four boundaries to clarify in the conversation: Who ultimately decides this outcome? Do I hold decision-making authority, execution authority, or the authority to push it forward? Which signal, when it appears, means I must ask for help or escalate? To complete it, which existing commitments need to be adjusted?