There is a right way and a wrong way to bring a disagreement upward, and the difference is not whether you escalate but how. > In frustration, the Head of Marketing will come to you and complain about the Head of Sales and demand that you rectify the problem. This is a "dirty escalation." Escalation because they have escalated up the org chart. **Dirty because you are only hearing one side of the story.** ### **What I'm thinking about** 1. **The Apex Manager is defined by authority, not title** – Whoever has hire/fire authority over both parties. Often the CEO; frequently not. 2. **The sequence has a mandatory first step** – The aggrieved party goes to the other party directly and states the problem *and* their proposed solution. Most disputes end here, which is the main return on the whole protocol. 3. **If unresolved, they escalate jointly** – Both parties approach the Apex Manager *together* and ask for a meeting. Both submit written positions in advance. Everyone reads both. Questions until there is enough context. Decision. 4. **One mulligan, and it is bounded** – The Apex Manager may say "I need more information," but must name exactly what information and who is collecting it, and set a new meeting with materials submitted in advance. At that second meeting she decides. **No more mulligans.** An imperfect decision beats an open dispute. 5. **Enforcement is a single behaviour** – "To ensure that clean escalations occur, you as Apex Manager must say 'no' to all dirty escalations." One question, asked every time: *what did they say when you raised it with them directly?* ### **So what?** Every time you adjudicate a complaint about someone who isn't in the room, you teach the organisation that this is how conflict gets resolved — and you make a decision on half the evidence while the absent party doesn't know their case is being heard. The hard part is holding the line when you are busy and it would genuinely be faster to just decide. That is precisely when the precedent gets set. Related: [[Directly Responsible Individual]] [[100% Responsibility]] [[The Drama Triangle]] [[Issue, Proposed Solution]] [[Executive Operating System MOC]]