# "You own this end to end"

## This week's cartoon

![Cartoon: a grinning manager drives a car with one hand on the real steering wheel and glances back at an employee strapped into a small child booster seat in the back, knees pushed up, gripping a little gold toy steering wheel. Manager says, "You own this end to end."](../../img/cartoons/end-to-end.jpg)

> _He had the wheel. The car already had a driver._

---

### Script

**Situation:** Your manager hands you a project and says you own it end to end. A week later the launch date, the vendor choice, and the scope cut have all gone through them. You carry the title of owner and none of the calls.

> "Thanks for trusting me with this, and I want to own it the way you described. Last week the launch date and the vendor choice both went through you, and I would like to make that kind of call myself next time. Can we agree on what I decide alone, what I decide and tell you after, and what still needs your sign-off? A rough spend or scope limit would help me stay inside the lines. If a call sits on my list, I would like it to stay mine unless you tell me directly that you are taking it back."

**Why it works:** It accepts the word owner and then asks what owning actually covers. The recent example keeps it concrete, so it reads as setup rather than a complaint about style. Three lists turn a warm promise into a line you can both see. If your manager will not put a single real call on your list, you have your answer. The wheel was a toy, and you can plan around that instead of gripping it harder.