Most coordination fails when the people who need to participate are forced to carry the cost of participation. They have different tools, different constraints, different authorities, and different priorities. When you make them pay the coordination tax, they rationally disengage, comply performatively, or build workarounds.

This episode defines stewardship as the opposite move: the steward carries the burden so others can contribute without being coerced. Stewardship means designing the interfaces, contracts, translation layers, and support structures that make participation easier, not harder. It is not moral virtue. It is operational design.

You will learn the practical implications:

• If you want participation, you reduce friction at the boundary
• If you want alignment, you publish clear intent and stable contracts
• If you want durability, you invest in protocols, not persuasion
• If you want a shared picture, you accept diversity and absorb it through harmonization rather than demanding uniformity

The question is not “Why won’t they comply?” The question is “Have we built a system where participation is rational?”

Reflection: In your system, who is paying the coordination cost, and are they the ones who benefit?

https://anthonyveltri.com/guide/doctrine-24-stewardship-places-the-burden-on-the-steward-not-the-parties/