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The Authority Opacity Diagnostic

A scored 30-statement assessment for delivery leaders. Find out exactly which governance failure patterns are active in your organization — and how severely — before they become delivery crises.

What's inside
30 rated statements across 6 failure patternsScore each statement 1–5. Pattern scores identify exactly where authority is breaking down.
A total diagnostic score from 6 to 30Score ranges tell you whether authority is functional, partially broken, or structurally absent.
Pattern-level interpretation and direct responsesWhat each high-scoring pattern means and the most direct action to take for each one.
Scoring guide and next steps includedHow to use your results to sequence the right fixes — independently or as a team session.
P-01 Authority Opacity P-02 Threshold Blindness P-03 Governance Theatre P-04 Tier Collapse P-05 Informal Authority P-06 Structural Drift
Built from real delivery experience
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The Problem This Solves

Most delivery problems aren't execution failures. They're authority failures.

Decisions stall. Escalations pile up. Governance meets but nothing gets formally resolved. Senior leaders are pulled into decisions that should never reach them. These patterns feel like communication problems or personality clashes. They're not. They're structural.

The Authority Opacity Diagnostic scores your organization across six specific failure patterns — giving you a precise, evidence-based picture of where the authority system is breaking down and how severely. It takes 15–20 minutes and produces a number you can actually act on.

Sound familiar?
1

Decisions keep escalating upward that your team should be resolving themselves

2

Your governance forum meets regularly but rarely formally decides anything in session

3

When a decision arises, people look around the room rather than to a named owner

4

Who makes decisions depends on who's in the room, not on any defined structure

5

A governance structure existed at the start — it no longer reflects how things actually work

Who This Is For

Built for leaders dealing with structural authority problems

This diagnostic is most useful for PMs and program leaders who sense that authority confusion is the root cause of their delivery friction — but need a structured way to name and evidence it.

🏗️

Program Managers

Managing complex delivery where decision rights span multiple teams, functions, and leadership tiers.

🔄

Transformation Leads

Driving organizational change where authority is contested, informal, or eroded from a prior design.

🏛️

Governance Leads

Responsible for steering committees and governance forums that need to actually decide, not just convene.

📈

Senior PMs Moving Up

Developing the structural thinking to operate at the level where authority design becomes a core skill.

Why Trust This Diagnostic

Built from delivery experience, not research or theory

This diagnostic was developed from real program delivery experience — in environments where authority confusion was the norm, not the exception. The six failure patterns are drawn from recurring breakdowns observed across governance structures in complex, multi-stakeholder programs.

15+

Years of Delivery Experience

Across public sector transformation, ERP programs, and digital initiatives where authority failures were recurring realities.

6

Failure Patterns Scored

Authority Opacity, Threshold Blindness, Governance Theatre, Tier Collapse, Informal Authority, and Structural Drift.

Real

Governance-Tested Framework

These patterns were identified and refined across real delivery and governance contexts — not generated from a management framework.

Want to fix what you find?

The Decision Rights Diagnostic Pack gives you the tools to close the gaps

The diagnostic tells you where authority is broken. The full 7-part pack gives you the Decision Category Map, Authority Tier Matrix, Escalation Trigger Checklist, and a working Decision Rights Charter to rebuild it. $27, one-time.

See the Full Pack →

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