Authority means the power to tell and make it stick. Managers who have to do this very often just might be telling people to do something that makes no sense. Dear Bob …I was somewhat disconcerted by this week’s Keep the Joint Running (“Leading without authority“). I’ve always taken the position that if my manager delegates responsibility, then he/she needs to delegate commensurate authority.[ Also on InfoWorld: Now that you know the wrong way to exercise authority, find out Bob’s tips on how to do it right in “Notes for new managers: Assert your authority early on” | Get sage advice on IT careers and management from Bob Lewis in InfoWorld’s Advice Line newsletter. ] You seem to be saying this shouldn’t even matter.What gives?– Delegatee Dear Delegatee …Read any management theory at all and you’ll discover that responsibility and authority have to be matched; otherwise, you’re setting up your employees for failure. That looks great in the PowerPoint. I even endorse it as something managers should do whenever they can. Most of the time, however, they can’t, because just about every assignment worth doing will involve areas over which the delegating manager doesn’t have authority.It comes down to the nature of hierarchical organizational design. However you draw the boxes, some responsibilities will fit neatly inside just one domain, while others will involve different areas. If everyone insists on matching up responsibility and authority, then every act of delegation will have to escalate to the executive to which all affected areas report, usually culminating in the CEO. Companies can — and some do — operate this way. The best adjectives for describing companies like this are “slow,” “stodgy,” arthritic,” and “ossified.”Did I mention “slow”?Companies that want to be fast on their organizational feet need to foster the skill of collaboration — of being able to make decisions that cross organizational boundaries without having to traverse the chain of command every time a difficult-to-resolve issue comes up. Am I against authority? Not at all. But I oppose being overly dependent on it.– BobThis story, “Managerial authority is overrated — here’s why,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Technology Industry