We Versus Me: Practicing Extreme Ownership in Transformation
Perry Puccetti
Executive Leader ★ Organizational Transformation ★ Culture & Operations Strategy ★ Change Agent ★ Marine Veteran ★ Marine Aviator
Design Principle: Extreme Ownership
How leadership at every level drives change.
In any transformation, complexity is guaranteed. Assumptions change, roles evolve, and clarity blurs, the business landscape shifts—especially over multi-year journeys—clarity blurs and excuses start to creep in.
That’s why Extreme Ownership is non-negotiable.
Coined by Jocko Willink, former Navy SEAL commander and co-author of Extreme Ownership, the idea is simple but not easy: If you touch it, you own it. If it breaks, you fix it. If no one else sees it, you say something.
No blame. No deflection. No waiting.
But ownership isn’t reserved for the top. In high-functioning transformations, everyone leads—from the C-suite to the core team to the delivery network. Titles may set direction, but culture is shaped by behavior. And when things get hard (and they will), what holds a transformation together isn’t the governance structure.
It’s a shared belief: “I own this.”
We Versus Me: The Power of Mutual Accountability
This isn’t a new idea. The Spartans lived this, building their entire culture around it. Their citizen-soldiers—the Homoioi, or “equals”—shared not only the burden of battle, but responsibility for success in all things. Leadership wasn’t about rank. It was about action.
That’s the heart of Extreme Ownership.
It’s not “that’s not my job.” It’s “we’ll figure this out.”
It’s not “leadership didn’t give us a plan.” It’s “let’s bring clarity and move forward.”
We don’t wait. We don’t escalate by default. We lead.
Ownership Elevates Everyone
On our teams, we embrace a simple but powerful principle:
“Don’t just bring a problem—bring a Point of View (POV).”
Ownership means stepping forward, not waiting to be told. Leaders surface solutions. A strong POV doesn’t just solve problems. It equips others to move. It’s not about being right—it’s about making it easier for someone else to act with clarity and speed..
A good POV includes:
Issue—What’s the real problem?
Context—Why now?
Options—What are the viable paths?
Recommendation—What do you suggest, and why?
Ownership isn’t about being right—it’s about helping others function with clarity. It’s not passive observation. It’s proactive leadership.
In practice, this means:
Raising concerns early, not when they explode.
Engaging directly, not hiding behind hierarchy.
Owning outcomes, not just tasks.
Asking: “What else could I do?”
It’s seeing a gap—and stepping into it.
Getting It Right: Ownership Without Overload
Ownership doesn’t mean isolation, control, or exhaustion. When misunderstood, it overwhelms instead of empowers.
1. Ownership ≠ Isolation
Taking the lead shouldn't cut others out. Ownership should strengthen collaboration, not create silos.
Ask: “Who else needs to be in the loop?”
2. Ownership ≠ Micromanagement
Leaders must foster initiative, not smother it. Ownership is about purpose and clarity—not control.
Ask: “Where can I step back to let others lead?”
3. Ownership ≠ Burnout
You’re not responsible for everything. You’re responsible for what’s yours to carry—and for asking for help when it’s not.
Ask: “Who else can I bring in?”
Actionable Strategies: Building a Culture of Ownership
Want to make Extreme Ownership real across your organization?
Teach it—Offer training on decision-making, ambiguity, and POVs.
Model it—Let leaders publicly own challenges and praise initiative.
Enable it—Create space for teams to act within clear guardrails.
Reinforce it—Recognize leadership behaviors, not just deliverables.
These practices turn philosophy into habit—and create resilience at every level.
Best Practice Examples in Action
Some of the most effective systems in history bake Extreme Ownership into their DNA:
Navy SEALs: “There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.” Leadership is everyone’s job.
Toyota: Anyone on the line can pull the Andon cord to fix quality issues—no blame, just resolution.
NASA: Flight directors own everything that happens on their watch. That mindset helped save Apollo 13.
Netflix: Its culture deck codified “freedom with responsibility”—you see it, you fix it.
These teams succeed not by avoiding problems—but by owning them early and solving them together.
Closer to Home Examples
When we identified a migration risk, we didn’t stop at escalation. We laid out three potential options, framed the tradeoffs, and made a recommendation to leadership—they didn’t have to pause to diagnose—they made a decision.
Noticing confusion at the center regarding timing , we didn’t wait for a comms lead—we built a draft POV deck to align stakeholders. We didn’t ask for clarity. We created it.
Our delivery lead spotted a downstream risk early and engaged finance and ops ahead of schedule. That single act of ownership avoided a multi-week delay.
Extreme Ownership isn’t about overstepping. It’s about closing the gap between problem and progress—so others can move faster, too.
How It Connects to the Other Principles
Extreme Ownership brings earlier principles to life:
Lead with Empathy: We support each other by owning the hard stuff.
Focus and Remit: We clarify what’s ours—then own it.
Mandate: We have permission. Ownership is what we do with it.
Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast: Teams move confidently when they know someone will lead—every time.
The Bottom Line
Transformation doesn’t need superheroes… it is work, not mystery. It needs teammates who show up, take responsibility, and lead from where they are.
Extreme Ownership isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence, commitment, and courage under complexity.
Because transformation succeeds not when one person owns everything—but when everyone owns something.
Where to start?
This week, find one issue—and bring a POV.
Don’t escalate. Don’t wait.
Own it.
#ExtremeOwnership #DigitalTransformation #Leadership
Jocko Willink MIT Sloan Management Review The Johns Hopkins University - Carey Business School