It could be something as simple as answering the phone. Or checking if the default image for a product on an ecommerce website exists. If you answer the phone or write a quick script to check if the default image exists, now you sort of become the person who is "expected" to do this task.
Boggles my mind.
It doesn't take a very large company for this to happen. I've seen it in a sub 50 person company. There is a task to be done but no one can do it because everyone involved is waiting for someone else to do something. It's like a Mexican standoff.