Taking responsibility that does not belong to you creates a drain on your resources. You might think this is okay. Bear in mind there is always an opportunity cost. By allocating resources to something over which you have no formal authority, you automatically reduce resources available to the areas where you do.
By way of example, taking on additional work to help out a colleague takes time from your family. You have allowed your family to pay the price for your colleague’s poor planning, ignorance, unwillingness to learn, or good but misplaced intentions.
The easiest way to spot this is to ask, do I have control over the outcome? If not, you shouldn’t take responsibility for it.
The ego trip you get by parading around with chips on your shoulder is rarely worth the very real cost.
