Time-span of discretion

Elliott Jaques measured the weight of a role not by headcount or budget but by the longest task within it before feedback arrives. A front-line role might be a shift; a senior executive role, several years. He argued organizations should have exactly as many layers as there are genuine steps in time-span, and no more, which is a far better argument for delayering than cost.

It is the sharpest tool available for deciding what stays human. Agents take the short loops, seconds to days. What is left is framing and accountability for outcomes nobody sees for a year, which is a different job from the one most managers were promoted into.