Credit attribution disputes are a trust problem wearing a measurement costume

When sales and marketing argue over which function deserves credit for a closed deal, the argument is rarely really about the specific deal. It's usually a symptom of a broader trust deficit between the functions that a better attribution model alone won't resolve.

The organizations that resolve this most durably tend to address the trust deficit directly — through joint accountability structures and shared incentives — rather than searching for an ever more precise attribution formula that avoids the underlying issue.