I have come across this more times than I care to remember: a manager sits in the middle of the spiderweb, keeps authority close, and delegates responsibility to all and sundry.
Why do managers do this? Are they afraid that somebody will make them look bad? Do they get a power kick out of being the boss? Do they call themselves detail-oriented and insist that they know what is best?
Whatever the reason, the result is the same. Responsibility travels outward. Authority stays in the centre. People are told that they own an outcome, but every meaningful decision still has to return to the manager.
Responsibility without authority is less than useless. It does not simply fail to help. It leaves somebody accountable for a result they were not allowed to shape, while the manager keeps every decision and becomes the bottleneck.
There is another approach. If you give somebody responsibility, give them the authority needed to act within a clear framework.
That does not mean abandoning supervision. The manager defines the framework and its boundaries, remains available to guide and challenge, and serves as the backstop when one is genuinely needed. Inside that framework, the person responsible is free to act and make decisions.
Then watch what happens. People stop waiting for permission and start producing outcomes. They take ownership of the product, process, department, or whatever else they have been asked to run. Quite often, they surprise you.
There will be mistakes. Sometimes, especially at the beginning, you could have done the work faster or better yourself. That is the price of building capability. If you reclaim authority after the first imperfect decision, you teach people to wait for instructions rather than own the result.
With time, people become more confident, enjoy their work more, and take real ownership. Their success is also yours. Meanwhile, you are no longer carrying every detail or blocking every decision. Your stress level may fall. You may even become a nicer person to be around. That is a positive feedback loop that actually deserves the name.
Two cautions.
Some people do need close supervision. In my experience, however, they are not the majority. Take that into consideration, but do not use it as an excuse to design every role around distrust.
And if delegating authority sounds insane or dangerous, ask the more basic question: why were you willing to delegate responsibility in the first place?