“Founders often describe this to me, ‘My team seems capable, but somehow they cannot take
decisions without checking with me first.’ A payment approval?
‘Sir, ek baar dekh lijiye.’ A
schedule adjustment? They confirm with you. Every small thing ends up on your desk. And you
keep wondering, ‘Why can they not just handle these things independently?’ Usually, it is not
about capability. It is about what the business has unconsciously taught them.”
“I am Milind Bibikar, and I work with mid-sized B2B engineering and project companies. This
pattern appears repeatedly. Founders build teams, but those teams hesitate to act without
approval. They bring questions instead of answers. The challenging part is understanding how
this behavior gets established.”
“Let me explain why teams develop this upward escalation habit. First, solving problems for
people teaches them to escalate. Someone approaches with a challenge. You solve it instantly.
But simultaneously, you reinforce a pattern: ‘When stuck, escalate to the founder.’ Repeat this
enough, and people stop attempting solutions themselves.
Second, teams fear making wrong choices. If the response to a mistake is, ‘Tumne poocha kyun
nahi pehle?’ the lesson becomes clear. Taking initiative carries risk. Seeking approval provides
safety. Once this thinking sets in, ownership disappears.
Third, authority levels never get properly defined. Many managers do not know their decision-
making limits. What requires approval? Where is the boundary? Without clarity, the safe default
is: ‘Ek baar confirm kar lete hain.’
Fourth, bringing solutions never becomes expected. Most escalations arrive as, ‘We have a
problem,’ followed by waiting for direction. The expectation should be, ‘We have a problem, here
are options, and I recommend this one.’ That single shift changes everything.
Consider one business where every small decision travels upward. The founder becomes a
bottleneck. Speed suffers. Now look at another business where teams understand what falls
under their judgment. They bring recommendations, not just issues.
The question is not, ‘Why will my team not decide independently?’ The better question is, ‘What
am I doing that makes them believe they should not?’ Because teams behave based on what
the environment rewards. If escalation feels safer than ownership, that is what will happen.”
“Building independent teams is not about finding the right people. It is about creating an
environment where taking ownership feels safer than avoiding it. Because the strongest teams
are not the ones who constantly check with the founder. They are the ones who know when to
act and when to ask.”
