S.MISCAST.A — Authority ambiguity

Nobody knows who may recommend, act, approve, override, or answer for the result.

The client email sat in the shared inbox for four days. Three people read it. Each assumed someone else would answer, and one drafted a reply but did not feel entitled to send it. When the client escalated, everyone had a defensible story, because nothing anywhere said who was allowed to respond, who had to approve, or who answered for the silence.

Authority ambiguity is the diagnosis for this shape: advice, execution, approval, override, and accountability are blurred, so nobody knows who may do what. The cue is work stalling at a decision point, or the sentence "I thought you had it." To run it, ask the spec's five-part question about the stuck spot: who may recommend, who may act, who approves, who can override, and who answers for the result? Write the five names down. Gaps and doubles jump out immediately, and the visible change is that decisions start moving because someone is explicitly allowed to make them. Related fixes include naming one owner per outcome and predefined escalation paths. Do not use this diagnosis when roles are actually clear and the problem is that the named owner lacks information or skill; clarifying authority again just laminates the org chart.