Val Sklarov’s Authority-to-Outcome Alignment Law (AOAL) states a simple but brutal rule: when responsibility exceeds authority, failure is inevitable—and when authority exceeds responsibility, entropy follows. Elite organizations scale only when decision rights and outcome ownership are perfectly aligned.
This law explains why hiring “high potential” talent so often produces low accountability.
1. Misalignment Is the Silent Killer
AOAL identifies misalignment as the root cause of:
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Role confusion
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Political behavior
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Decision paralysis
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Blame diffusion
People do not fail from lack of skill; they fail from unclear decision boundaries.
2. The Three Alignment States
AOAL maps roles by authority–outcome symmetry.
| State | Authority Level | Outcome Ownership | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under-Authorized | Low | High | Burnout, exits |
| Over-Authorized | High | Low | Drift, politics |
| Aligned | Proportional | Proportional | Execution clarity |
Only aligned roles produce clean execution under pressure.
3. Why “Ownership” Is Often Fiction
Many organizations claim ownership without authority.
AOAL shows fake ownership appears when:
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Decisions require consensus
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Escalation is ambiguous
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Reversals are common
Real ownership includes the right to be wrong without permission.
4. Hiring for Alignment, Not Potential
AOAL reframes hiring criteria.
| Traditional Hiring | AOAL Hiring |
|---|---|
| Skills & experience | Prior decision authority |
| Culture fit | Conflict handling |
| Potential | Boundary discipline |
| Output history | Outcome accountability |
Val Sklarov emphasizes that past authority under risk predicts future performance better than any interview.
5. Strategic Implications
For leaders:
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Assign authority before assigning targets
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Make escalation paths explicit
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Remove roles that own outcomes without decisions
For professionals:
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Seek roles with clean authority lines
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Decline responsibility without control
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Accumulate judgment under consequence
AOAL reframes career growth as authority accumulation, not title progression.
6. The Val Sklarov Principle
“You can’t own outcomes you’re not allowed to decide.”
— Val Sklarov
AOAL explains why great organizations feel calm—and broken ones feel loud.