The Primary Disciplines:
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🧱 Responsibilities
Responsibilities are the basic building blocks of performance. Read more
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1. Delegate to create responsibilities
Skillful delegation is the fundamental discipline of The Responsibility Matrix. It is the only way new responsibilities are created. And it’s the only way that team (and organizational) capabilities grow. Read more
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2. The Essential Elements of Delegation
When you create a responsibility by enlisting help, the “handshake” isn’t complete until you agree on three things. Read more
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3. Create Responsibility Agreements
In TRM, a responsibility isn’t “official” until it is written down. Once the 3 Essential Elements (Objective, Constraints, and Key Results) are shaped during a 1:1 discussion, they must be captured in a Responsibility Agreement. Read more
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4. Ensure that every responsibility has exactly one owner
Accountability cannot survive where there is ambiguity. We follow a strict rule: Exactly one person owns any responsibility. We call this “Unity of Ownership.” Read more
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5. Make cascading responsibilities practical and relevant
To turn a broad mission into meaningful work, you must do more than delegate—you must translate. The discipline of cascading is the act of narrowing a high-level “What” into an individual’s specific “How.” Read more
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6. Govern by monitoring your mission chains
Governance is not passive; it is a fundamental responsibility of leadership. As a Lead, you are accountable for a high-level outcome. Because you cannot deliver that outcome alone, you enlist others—but the ultimate responsibility remains yours. And you need to both set it in motion and monitor its health. Read more
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7. Be intentionally transparent
Culture is defined by what people see, not what they are told. Read more
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Definitions
These are TRM-specific definitions of familiar concepts. Read more
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Roles
TRM recognizes four primary roles. Read more
Categories: Disciplines

