Blog Archives

Accountability - It is all my fault!

5/19/2014

Unexpected events and accidents happen every day. Machinery breaks down, car accidents occur, unexpected weather events happen or stock markets fall, despite forecasts that may have predicted a rise. Life is not as predictable as we like to think. On the other hand, knowing that life is unpredictable means we can, to a certain extent, plan for it. We can make an assumption that an unlikely event is possible and make contingency plans that include the unpredictable.

In business, we demand that managers are accountable. Some people think this is all about who is to blame. But is it? The Oxford English dictionary suggests being accountable is being expected to justify actions or decisions.

Accountability is really an attitude where you are holding yourself account to outcomes. It is a mindset, that whatever has happened - whether it is your fault or not – it has something to do with you and you are committed to finding solutions to solve it. It is the opposite of the attitude “not my problem.” Responsibility is about ownership. Responsibility is something an organisation defines that specifies your boundaries of ownership.

Accountability is broader than responsibility as it is about your mindset that takes ownership for an overall result, even if it lies outside your defined set of responsibilities. Someone who feels accountable to the company will help with any customer problem in the interests of the overall company outcome, whether or not it is within their defined set of responsibilities. Accountability is an attitude that says “it is not my fault, and I am not to blame, but I am here to help fix it”

4 Comments

Even great is not good enough

5/12/2014

0 Comments

Jim Collins wrote an excellent book called “Good to Great”. In it, he talks about what makes companies truly great, rather than just good. A key theme of the book is the fact that, in order to be great, you have to do less good things, so you can focus on a few really great things. A colleague of mine, who in the 3 years he has been in charge, achieved over 25% growth in revenue per annum, to be told by his bosses that “it is just not good enough”. They expected better!

I recall the boom days in telecoms in early 2000’s that we look back on with nostalgia and yet, at the time, I also recall the pressure to do better. Because the norm was almost exponential growth, even excellent growth was frowned upon as “not good enough”. One of the exciting things about business opportunity is there is no ultimate standard. This sense that the sky is the limit drives companies to achieve a lot more, with less, thus driving profits up higher and higher. Being a leader is tough as you have to balance your leading role, with your follower role. The follower role is the one where you are responsible to your bosses for their expectations of you.

Often these expectations are unbounded!

The expectations are based purely on a desire to do better and many targets have no objective science behind them to prove that they are realistic or even possible. We are driven harder and harder to achieve goals that may not even be possible. This the reality of our society so there is no point in challenging it, and it is this constant striving to do better, whatever the odds, that drives progress, so it not a bad thing. Nobody ever achieved great things by setting conservative, and realistic goals.

The main point here, is that when you are in the team that is delivering these results, expect that whatever you do, it is not going to be seen as good enough – especially at the time. Years later, you may get credit for what was achieved, but at the time all you can expect on your score card is “can do better”. Set your own personal scorecard of success to value your worth as an imperfect, fallible human being who is doing their absolute best. Results, not trying hard are rewarded, but your personal sense of satisfaction will be measured by what you have achieved, against your personal goals - with the cards you have been dealt – not necessarily by achieving the arbitrary external measures of success that have been provided to you.

0 Comments

The truth and nothing further from the truth

5/5/2014

0 Comments

We have all seen those court room TV dramas where a witness has to swear to “Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. Our society has grown tired of all the political spin to distort the truth and one has to be a little bit naïve to believe that the news is unbiased and telling you the whole truth. Imagine a society where the truth was the norm and in fact enforced as a public responsibility, in a similar way that speed is enforced on our roads. Recent advances in neuroscience are making that a possibility. Sam Harris in his book “The Moral Landscape” points out that “deception is the principle enemy of human cooperation”.

We often think one thing and say another. In fact, part of us developing a mature personality requires us to do that. Regulating our responses, to something more socially acceptable than what may be rumbling around in our heads, is a learned skill. Sometimes, we also deliberately distort the truth to say things in a way to minimise the hurt that the blatant truth may cause. However, communication is compromised when we constantly distort what we say, to be different to what we mean. Honest, open communication is key to good communication. Rather than making assumptions about how the other person may react and what they probably think, it is best to communicate in such a way that we are clear about what we feel and think and genuinely listen to understand what the other party feels and thinks. Hopefully we never get to the stage where everything we say is electronically tested and judged. Unless what we mean, will genuinely cause unnecessary hurt, we should speak the truth and say what we actually mean, to improve our communication.

0 Comments

Accountability - It is all my fault!

Even great is not good enough

The truth and nothing further from the truth

Author

Archives

Categories