There are a number of ways in which accountability can become a
counter-productive force. In its best form accountability is for what you
promise to do, not necessarily for the outcome. The world is simply too
complicated for all outcomes to be predictable. In this "best" form, it is
fair game to say at the end of a project that you a) did what you said you
would, and b) documented some outcome. It is best if You can give insight
into why the outcome was different than you expected.
Asking for more than this is exactly what freezes people into inaction.
If we can learn and implement this simple rule, we will go far in making
accountability a valuable tool.
A confusion about accountability also helps give it a bad name. It is
often said that systems and processes, not people, are usually at fault
when things are not working optimally. while this is true, it does not
make the need for accountability go away. Systems, left to their own
devices, will continue to operate incorrectly for as loug us we let them.
They are not somehow self-correcting. Only people cuu Correct flawed
systems. we need people to accept accountability in the "best" sense of
the word.
--Rol Fessenden 76234.3636@compuserve.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>