The costliest problems in companies are often technically simple
Accountability and decisions · 22 May 2026
The costliest problem in a company is rarely the hardest technically. More often, nobody owns it. The CFO sees the PFRON mandate, HR sees recruitment, operations sees the process, ESG sees social impact, procurement sees a supplier, and a manager sees a risk to their own KPI. Each view is rational. Together they form a system in which money leaves the company but nobody is accountable for turning it into work.
Key points
- The PFRON mandate is a company-wide cost, while the effort of implementation falls on particular managers and teams. The upside is shared; the risk is local.
- HR cannot create operational processes alone. Finance cannot design work merely because it can see a business case.
- Operational inclusion needs one owner of the result and a shared model of finance, work, risk and management. A committee is not an owner.
What this means for a company
When each department holds part of the answer but nobody has the budget, goal and tools, the problem stays between silos. The PFRON mandate keeps accruing on a changing basis, while the organisation calls the same cost “a topic for further analysis”. The board does not have to solve everything in one meeting. It does have to decide who owns the problem and its result. The sequence is straightforward: an owner, then work, process, recruitment and scale.
Originally published 22 May 2026.