Reference #351: Thinking in Systems
Sub-optimisation is a system behaviour wherein in a subsystem's goals dominate at the expense of the total system's goals. For example, a team member more focused on his personal glory than the success of the team can cause that team to fail.
The purpose of a system's hierarchy is to enable the subsystems that comprise it to do their job better. Sometimes both higher and lower levels of a hierarchy forget this.
Meadows. Thinking in Systems, 2008. (84-85)