"If a decision is mine to make, I am very comfortable making it, but I like to think I know the boundary between a decision that belongs to me and one that belongs to my manager, or someone else. Let's say I am responsible for determining whether a batch of material can be shipped to a customer. I know that the customer is waiting for this material for a critical project. I look at our internal requirements. If those are all met, then I look at the customer's requirements. If test results meet their specifications too, it's easy. Ship it. But what if it meets all the customer's requirements, but is just barely outside the acceptable range for one of our in-house requirements that the customer doesn't necessarily care about? As a relatively junior employee, that's where I need to consult my supervisor. I would bring the boss up to speed on the test results and the potential technical implications for use of the product of being just out of range on one feature. In this situation, the customer's urgent need for the product, especially when the customer's own requirements are met, might outweigh failure to meet an internal specification. I would technically be within my rights to say nothing to my boss and discard the material, but wasting usable material while inconveniencing a customer might not be the best overall outcome. I try to use good judgment about whether a decision is one that I should make independently or not."