Well, then, what is the relationship between accountability and
responsibility--and who decides?
At the Nuernberg trials, the allies decided that "war criminals" had a
greater accountability and responsibility than was explained by their
testimony of just following orders. What principle does this imply in our
dealings with one another in organizational settings?
The ultimate standard of accountability and responsibility will be
determined by one of two entities--myself or everyone else. History
provides some interesting lessons about which entity is judged most
harshly by the future.
Doc
John Cremer wrote:
> I've been following both the accountability and performance rating
> subject threads for some time, but it just now occurred to me that they
> can be viewed as parts of the same package. Isn't the performance
> appraisal really an accountability tool designed to hold a person
> responsible for their job related behavior? An imperfect tool, often
> poorly administered and designed. It is frequently misused, but is an
> accountability tool none the less. No wonder they are widely disliked!
>
> Another thread that lately appeared is around grades. Couldn't you
> say that grading and testing are accountability tools in the same sense?
>
-- "Love not what you are, but what you may become." - Miguel de CervantesThresholds--developing critical skills for living organizations Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Please visit our new website, still at <http://www.thresholds.com/> <mailto:learnshops@thresholds.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>