It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Anyone who has worked with me would have heard me use the expression "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission".This little gem is whipped out frequently, either to give guidance to team members or to excuse myself for making independent decisions. It's effective.. most of  the time...

Working for a pretty conservative organisation made me somewhat nervous about the application of this wisdom until I read something a few years ago from Colin Powell: 

“You know the expression – it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission. Well it’s true. Good leaders don’t wait for official blessing to try things out. They are prudent, not reckless. But they also realize a fact of life in most organisations: if you ask enough people for permission, you will inevitably come up against someone who believes their job is to say ‘no’. So the moral is ‘don’t ask’. Less effective middle managers endorse the sentiment “if I haven’t specifically been told ‘yes,’ then I can’t do it,” whereas the good ones believed “if I haven’t explicitly been told ‘no,’ then I can”. There is a world of difference between these two points of view.”

Who am I to disagree with a four star general? Using the 'Powell defence' enables me to get things done in a large organisation. I've crashed a few times though and have leaned heavily on the 'forgiveness' side of the expression...

Every day we are presented with opportunities to use our judgment. So use it. Weigh up the threats and opportunities and be bold in your decision making. No change or innovation comes from sitting on your good ideas. The resources industry is changing rapidly and with good planning and confidence your decisions will shape the future.