Your goal as an employee

I'd often wonder why certain heads of departments would crib to me about how a certain manager, vendor or employee had not delivered on a promise or had out right not preformed their task. This had directly blocked them from undertaking their own tasks.
Taking action was out of their locus of control. "Why not simply let the VP know that X had not done their job?" I'd think to myself. "Why don't they just go and tell the MD that X was not performing and get them to add pressure."
I now realize that this whole premise is wrong as I have been looking at it in the exact opposite manner.
Today while listening to a podcast I learnt -
Your goal as an employee is not to have to escalate every problem you face to your boss. Your boss wants to see you as a problem solver. Someone who can work through your own issues, who can navigate complex relationships and still get your work done in a really successful manner.

If you are to escalate problems to your boss, that would mean your boss getting involved and him having to solve said issue. In effect he/she will be doing your job. Why the heck did they hire YOU then?

This rules applies no matter what function, hierarchy or department you are hired in.