Design Pattern · September 2026
Burden Payer and Burden Imposer matrix
Show who requires work, who performs it, who pays, who benefits, who waits, and who can change it.
Under the pillar Unbundling Work, Credentials, and Liability
Inputs
One work unit and the parties connected to it.
Method
Record the imposer, executor, payer, beneficiary, delay bearer, failure bearer, and change authority. Add evidence for each assignment.
Output
A matrix that exposes cost shifting and the party able to remove the cause.
Boundary
Different parties may have sound reasons for the same work. The map does not settle the policy choice.
Stop
Stop a local optimization when it reduces one party's burden by increasing total burden.
Put this to work
Burden Payer and Burden Imposer matrix application record
Apply Burden Payer and Burden Imposer matrix to a real piece of work and record what happened.
- For
- Operators redesigning a team, service, or AI workforce.
- What you keep
- A burden payer and burden imposer matrix application record you can review, revise, and send.
- What counts as sound
- Names a real setting
- Shows the work before and after
- Records exceptions
- Uses an observable result
- Ends with keep, revise, or stop
Do not infer that a task can move merely because it can be described.
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