Love this, obviously.

In my experience, what so often gets labeled as HR “overreach” or “managers avoiding responsibility” is usually a sign that the organization hasn’t made accountability workable. Managers are discouraged from naming risk or complexity, and HR is discouraged from challenging performance narratives, so both end up compensating in ways that were never the intent of their roles. Or they get reprimanded when they cross lanes.

Organizations need to clearly define decision-making authority when values and performance collide, because they will. And they need to be real about who is expected to carry the resulting tension and whether or not the company’s stated identity can be safely upheld in practice.