When Ownership Is Optional

The bin was always there

What stood out wasn’t the litter; it was the bin. It was close enough to use, clearly marked, and impossible to miss. The rules were visible for the system to work. Nothing was missing and yet, the ground told a different story. 

In organisations, poor outcomes are often explained by pointing to broken processes or missing structures. More often, the opposite is true. The process exists, guidance has been written, and the standards are known.

What’s absent is ownership.

Processes rarely fail because they aren’t documented. They fail when responsibility feels optional; when people assume someone else will deal with the consequences of inaction.

The is how culture shows up in practice. Not in policies, but in behaviour. Not in intention, but in follow-through. Because when ownership is optional, standards quietly erode.

And the bin was always there.

David R. Smith