I bristle at the sentiment of "things that are bigger than me." Perhaps my aversion to this notion stems from the fact that I've worked (mostly) in small companies. Folks at my now bigger company say things like: "above my paygrade" or "out of my hands" or "I'm too low on the totem pole."

I admit that by straining to fix these hard things, I'm often going outside of the formal role I hold at the company. I'm fine with that. Others may not be at times. For me, the straining is required. We have a cultural goal to "think like an owner" and that is how I typically justify my behavior.