Who Owns What? Roles That Make the What-How Separation Work
What-How separation roles are the backbone of making the split between what we build and how we build it actually work. Without them, the neat theoretical distinction collapses into blurred accountability, endless debates, and frustrated teams. If you missed the opening of this series, start with Build the Right Thing, the Right Way: Why the What vs. How Split Matters More Than You Think, where I introduced why this separation is so essential.
Why Roles Matter in the What-How Separation
It’s one thing to say “separate what from how”. It’s another to live it.
Roles create the scaffolding that holds the separation in place. They define ownership:
- Who decides what problems are worth solving?
- Who decides how to solve them best?
- Who makes sure both sides stay aligned without stepping on each other’s toes?
When those lines are clear, work flows. When they aren’t, everyone half-owns everything—which usually means nobody truly owns anything.
The “What” Side: Defining Value and Direction
The what is about clarity of purpose and prioritization. Typical owners of this side include:
- Product Owner / Product Manager → accountable for outcomes, value, and direction.
- Business Roles or Business Experts → provide essential context and constraints.
- Stakeholders and Customers → bring needs, feedback, and validation.
Their job is not to describe solutions in detail but to focus the team on the right problems. They answer the why and what, not the how.
The “How” Side: Making It Real
On the how side, the focus shifts to delivery and execution. Roles here include:
- Engineering / Development Teams → design, build, and test solutions.
- Architects / Tech Leads → guard technical integrity and scalability.
- Delivery Managers / Scrum Masters → enable flow, remove obstacles, and nurture improvement.
Their job is not to decide business priorities but to bring the craft and creativity that turn ideas into working solutions.
The Bridge Roles: Translating Across the Divide
Some roles don’t belong squarely on one side—they span the gap:
- Solution Owners → balance business needs with delivery feasibility.
- UX and Design → ensure what is built is human-centered and technically feasible.
- Agile Coaches → align people development and ways of working.
These roles are translators, facilitators, and connectors. They don’t own both sides but help them meet without collision.
Common Pitfalls in Role Ownership
Even with clear intentions, the lines can blur:
- Product stepping into the how → micromanaging technical decisions.
- Engineers stepping into the what → defining product scope without market insight.
- Bridge roles overreaching → trying to “own” both sides and becoming bottlenecks.
The result? Confusion, power struggles, and wasted energy.
Making the Separation Work in Practice
To keep the What-How split healthy:
- Define role ownership explicitly in your org design—don’t leave it implicit.
- Schedule regular alignment conversations—documents alone won’t bridge the gap.
- Allow role clarity to evolve—startups and enterprises won’t look the same.
- Foster psychological safety—so people can call out when boundaries are crossed.
When each role respects its lane while staying open to collaboration, the separation isn’t a wall—it’s a flow channel.
Closing Reflection
The What-How separation only works if people know who owns what and respect those boundaries while collaborating. Clarity isn’t about silos—it’s about creating trust and speed.
So, in your team: who owns what? And is that crystal clear—or still a little blurred?
Further Reading
If you want to dive deeper into role clarity and collaboration across product and delivery, I recommend: