Ownership over Process

Process is a tool. When the tool becomes the master, something has gone wrong.

The best PMs own outcomes, not activities. They bend process when it gets in the way of results, and they never blame the system for their failures.

What This Means in Practice

• Ask “what outcome do we need?” before “what’s the process?”
• Take responsibility for results, not just following steps
• Change broken processes instead of complaining about them
• Lead by example, not by procedure

The Anti-Pattern

You’re violating this pillar when you:

• Follow process even when it clearly isn’t working
• Say “that’s not my job” or “that’s not how we do things”
• Blame Agile/Scrum/OKRs for failures
• Hide behind procedure to avoid hard decisions

The Mantra

“Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work.” — Albert Einstein

Own the outcome. Adapt the process.