[erikpukinskis]

There's a difference between having A Decider and having your decider make all the important decisions.

Yes, there needs to be a captain of the ship, and when she tells you to do something, you fucking do it because that's what captain means and you can kvetch about it when you're back on land.

But if the captain is making all of the important decisions, something has gone terribly wrong and your boat will not function. The captain is there to

1) make small changes necessary to stay on a long term course

2) push decisions through in moments when speed is critical

3) break conflicts that can't be resolved

They are not the chief achitect or the chief strategist or the chief anything really.

And if you are both the captain and the chief strategist, you need to recognize that you're playing two roles in one body and you need to be very aware at all times of when you're wearing the captain hat and when you're not. You don't get to boss people around when you're doing strategy.

[sanderjd]

I agree with you, but I'm not arguing for a single "Decider", but rather a small group of what the comment I replied to referred to as "higher-ups" being responsible for making decisions in their areas of responsibility. I think this works in your ship analogy as well, but I don't know enough about sailing to say what those people are called - mates? In any case, you get the drift :-)