An executive takes on orphaned, weakly held functions next to the domain their plan needs, one at a time, until the case for running the whole area is already made by what they run.
Borderline: whether this move is justified depends on the situation, and only the person in it can judge.
An example
Convinced that a regional general contractor should bid design-build work, its vice president of preconstruction faced a head of estimating who controlled pricing and thought the idea a distraction. Over six quarters she took on work nobody wanted: subcontractor prequalification, which no one had owned since a retirement; the bid-tracking dashboard finance had abandoned; the relationships with three architecture firms that had been managed by whoever answered the phone. Each assignment went through the normal owner and was announced in the operations meeting, and each one ran better within a quarter. When design-build came to the executive committee, she was running four of the five functions around estimating, with a year of data on win rates. The question in the room was who else could run it. The committee approved a design-build pilot under her group.
Why it works
Every step is cheap to allow, because it takes ground no one is defending: an orphaned committee, a neglected metric, a vendor relationship nobody wants. As the surrounding functions move, the rival's domain loses the interfaces, data, and coordination that made it central, so holding it alone is worth less. Each move also raises the cost of the next defense, since the rival must argue boundaries that are already set and explain why the person running four adjacent functions should not run the fifth. Loose boundaries, a rival busy with operations, and patience over many quarters are the preconditions.
The thinking behind it
Thomas C. Schelling Schelling's Arms and Influence (1966) describes salami tactics: a line can be crossed in slices, each too small to justify a response. Taking one orphaned function at a time works the same way on organizational boundaries. No single transfer justifies a fight, and by the time the pattern is visible, the boundaries have moved. The same idea explains the defense: treat each transfer as part of a connected territory.
Jeffrey Pfeffer Pfeffer's Power in Organizations (1981) locates power in position: control of resources and information, and centrality in networks of dependence. Adjacent functions such as prequalification, bid tracking, and outside relationships are the interfaces through which a domain connects to the rest of the business. Whoever runs them becomes central, and the domain they surround loses the connections that made it central.
Sun Tzu (Sunzi) The Art of War holds that supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting, by defeating plans and alliances before battle is joined. It is a strategist's classic of maxims, not a work of research, but it names this move exactly: by the time the decision reaches the executive committee, the position has been won through what the proposer already runs, and the contest is nearly over.
When it fits
Plans that depend on functions you do not own suit it, when the organization has orphaned or poorly run work around them, and you have the capacity to run what you take on well. It suits a leader with standing to accept assignments without a fight and a horizon measured in quarters. It does not fit a deadline next month, or a domain whose boundaries are already defended.
How to use it well
Begin by mapping the perimeter: which functions sit next to the area your plan needs, who owns each, and which are weakly held, unloved, or vacant.
- Take only what is orphaned or offered, and run it visibly better than before. A function taken and neglected is a liability.
- Ask for each assignment through its normal owner, and announce it.
- Build a record as you go: cycle times, win rates, costs, whatever shows the function works better now.
- Do not force a direct challenge before the position is complete. A premature strike shows the pattern and lets the rival rally support.
When the decision comes, make the case on the merits and on what you have run.
What it costs and where it backfires
Progress is slow, and every function you take is real work you have to do well. Once the pattern is visible you will be read as an empire builder, and the rival can recast each past concession as part of a campaign and win sympathy. Once taking ground turns into undermining the rival's own work, by slowing handoffs, withholding data, or misstating why you want a function, it stops being positioning and becomes sabotage.
When it is used on you
Watch for one executive whose portfolio adds a neglected function next to yours every quarter. Read your organization's boundaries actively, and treat each transfer of adjacent work as part of a connected territory. Claim orphaned work near you before someone else does, ask adjacent owners to talk with you before transferring anything, and make your own case early, while you still own the interfaces.