I grew up playing a game called “Kill the Man with the Ball.”

If you grew up in a neighborhood like mine, you already know exactly what I’m talking about, and you’re either smiling or rubbing an old injury. For those of you who had more supervised childhoods, allow me to explain.

The rules are simple: 1) Someone has the ball. 2) Everyone else tries to destroy that person.

That’s it. That’s the whole game. There are no teams. There are no plays. There is no referee. There is no waiver you sign beforehand. One kid picks up the ball, and suddenly he has made the worst decision of his young life. The moment the ball is in your hands, you are the target. Every kid on that field, including your best friend, your cousin and the kid you thought liked you, is now legally and enthusiastically authorized to take you down.

It sounds insane. It was insane. And we loved it.

Here’s what I didn’t realize at the time. “Kill the Man with the Ball” taught me something I’d spend the next 30 years watching businesses get completely wrong.

Everybody knew who had the ball.

That was the whole point. No confusion. No finger pointing. No meeting after the meeting to figure out who was supposed to do what. You had the ball, or you didn’t. If you had it, you owned it—fully. Every consequence that came with it was yours.
Most organizations I’ve encountered operate nothing like this.

Projects stall because three people think someone else is running it. Decisions don’t get made because nobody is sure who’s authorized to make them. Accountability disappears into the fog of “we,” “the team,” and, “Let’s circle back.” Nobody has the ball. Or worse, everybody thinks they do.

I’ve been guilty of this as a leader. I’d assign something, assume it was handled and then wonder two weeks later why nothing moved. The problem wasn’t the people. The problem was that I never clearly put the ball in someone’s hands and made them feel the full weight of carrying it.

Real ownership isn’t just a name on a project plan. It’s someone who knows, without any doubt, that this is theirs to win or lose. It’s someone who feels accountable the way you feel accountable when every kid on the block is about to come after you.

That feeling is clarifying. It focuses people and creates positive energy and urgency.

It might be surprising to learn that in our little anything but harmless childhood game, with full knowledge of what could and probably would happen, every boy there actually wanted the ball. And I believe the same is true for our teams. They want the clarity and focus that comes with ownership, even if it means a few bumps and bruises along the way.

So, here’s my challenge to you: Pick one initiative in your business that’s been moving too slowly or not moving at all. Now ask yourself honestly, “Who has the ball?”

If you can’t answer that in three seconds, nobody does.

Fix that, and you can expect higher productivity, increased momentum and happier, more motivated teams.