What do the Challenger space shuttle explosion, The Avengers for most of Infinity War, and your Tuesday morning chaos have in common?
They all look like failures, but when you drill down we find that they’re really just symptoms of unclear communication, fuzzy ownership, and/or way too much falling on one over-caffeinated person.
Back when I was running my firm, I was basically Iron Man, Alfred, and the intern, all rolled into one…and not in a good way.
- Making the big calls
- Fixing the printers
- And still somehow ordering lunch for a team that “forgot it was Tuesday”
Let’s just say… burnout was coming faster than that printer jam before a big trial, and honestly NO ONE was happy about it.
What the Challenger Disaster Teaches Law Firm Owners
In 1986, the Challenger space shuttle exploded 73 seconds after liftoff.
And while the O-ring got the headlines, what was the deeper issue?
Everyone knew something might go wrong… but nobody owned the final decision.
Communication broke down. Responsibility was spread so thin that no one felt like it was truly theirs to act on. Multiple engineers knew there could be a problem…but no one had the final say to launch or not to stop it.
Sound familiar?
That’s what happens when you have:
- Multiple people kinda owning a task
- No clear follow-up
- And you, in the middle, duct-taping it all together
Seriously, the only thing I remember from CPR training when I was a camp counselor is that you have to tell a SPECIFIC person to go call 9-1-1. Do not assume someone will do when you just tell the group.
Or as Tommy Lee Jones says in Men In Black “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.” Let your team be smart.
The Avengers: Great Team, No Clue Who’s in Charge
The Avengers have superpowers, cool nicknames, and at least 4 billion dollars in destroyed property per movie.
Why?
Because without Nick Fury, they bicker, overlap, and punch the wrong aliens.
You might have a great team, your own legal Avengers, but if you don’t have:
- Defined roles
- Clear communication
- Someone driving the mission
…then you’re stuck in Endgame without the time stone.
Here’s How You Fix It: 5 Moves That Would Make Nick Fury Proud
1. Assign ownership, not errands.
Stop treating your team like Postmates for tasks.
Instead of “Can you handle this?” try “You now own our client welcome process, end to end.”
Ownership turns them into leaders. Tasks turn them into widgets…or NPCs as the kids say these days. (total aside, I LOVE calling boring people NPCs as much as I do not understand 6 7…)
2. Create a “Who Owns What” list (and yes, print it).
If everyone is responsible, no one is.
Make a list. Share it. Stick to it. The Accountability Chart from Traction is the best and easiest way to do this.
Even Batman uses a Batcomputer to keep things straight.
3. Build systems they can actually trust.
If the process relies on your memory, it’s not a system…it’s a hope. If you’ve read my book, you know I love James Clear and especially the quote “we do not rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems.”
Use checklists, SOPs, and tools like ClickUp or Lawmatics so nobody’s asking,
“Wait, who was supposed to send the retainer?”
.
.
.
Again.
4. Run weekly syncs with actual purpose.
No “vibe checks” or “quick updates.”
Come with wins, where you are stuck, and priorities for what to work on next.
If the meeting feels like an awkward first date, you’re doing it wrong.
5. Let them fail without flipping the table.
They’re going to mess up. You did too.
Let them own the outcome and coach them after, not during.
Micromanaging isn’t leadership, it’s stress with a side of resentment.
Wrapping It Up
You’re not supposed to be Iron Man, Captain America, and Nick Fury.
Your job isn’t to save the day, it’s to build a team that doesn’t need saving. Trust me…I have been through this. It only got better when I stopped needing to be the hero.
Because when everyone knows their lane, your business moves faster, your team feels stronger, and you finally get to log off before dinner without a Slack notification triggering an existential crisis.
Until then, pick 1 task for each employee and ask them what they need from you to take full ownership of it.