What does it mean that role types clarify relationships?

Defining roles for people and objects clarifies what each is responsible for.

Example: Your team has five people on a product launch. Everyone is 'helping.' The launch slips a week because nobody knew who owned the go/no-go decision, who was supposed to brief legal, or who had final say on the pricing page copy. Now assign explicit role types — one DRI for the launch decision, one Responsible for legal review, two Consulted on pricing, one Informed on timeline changes. Same five people, but every relationship is suddenly legible. The role types didn't add bureaucracy. They removed the invisible tax of guessing.

Try this: Pick a project or recurring meeting where responsibilities feel blurry. List every person involved. For each person, write one sentence that completes: '[Name] is the _ for _.' Use specific role types — owner, reviewer, advisor, executor, approver — not vague words like 'involved' or 'helping.' If you cannot write that sentence for someone, you have found the ambiguity that is costing your team.