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Fix It: Getting Accountability Right

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Fix It: Getting Accountability Right

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Highlights & Notes

fixing accountability will be the low-hanging fruit for optimizing performance in business for at least the next decade.

When accountability is used as a club for beating people over the head with when things go wrong, solutions are easily lost, teams fracture, and members scramble for the safety of defensiveness and self-preservation.

“Accountability is a personal choice to rise above one’s circumstances and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving Key Results: See It, Own It, Solve It, and Do It.”

The problem, however, is obvious: we all operate on limited information based on where we stand relative to the challenges we face. As a result, we rarely see the whole picture, relying instead on just our own bias and restricted point of view.

obtaining the perspectives of others can’t be an option; it’s an operational necessity.

Humility is a deep, authentic acknowledgment that we can’t do it alone, that we should be mindful of the perspectives others bring, and that we can be better and do more with input from others.

True humility is not just about admitting you can’t solve, resolve, or fix every problem on your own. Rather, humility promotes a very personal and real recognition that the experiences and opinions of others matter, and that they can make a difference in your success.

To be humble is to be teachable, and that begins by having the confidence to ask the right questions, even if, and perhaps especially if, it exposes a lack of knowledge or understanding.

“Are you on board?” Or better: “What else do you need before getting on board?” “Can I help?” Or better: “If there was one thing I could do to help, what would that be?” “Can you get it done on time?” Or better: “What is your greatest challenge to getting it done on time?” “Do you agree?” Or better: “What are your concerns?” “Do you have any questions?” Or better: “What questions should we be asking right now?”

Often people on the front lines who are closest to the problem have a good idea of what needs to be done to move forward, but too often those views never make it up the chain of command.

How often do you avoid asking for another person’s perspective because you fear they will tell you exactly what you don’t want to hear? Not asking can prove a very expensive mistake, whether you’re running a restaurant or working in a nuclear power plant!

Being open and candid saves time. It helps everyone see the reality of the situation. It speeds up solutions. It eliminates guesswork and helps people know where they stand.

Put smart, passionate people in a room together, charge them with identifying and solving problems, and encourage them to be candid.”

“You don’t want to be at a company where there is more candor in the hallways than in the rooms where fundamental ideas or policy are being hashed out. Seek out people who are willing to level with you, and … hold them close.”

your intention should be to influence the outcome for the good, not to just sound off on your perspective.

Your ability to be open and candid in any circumstance is a choice and you can do it successfully in almost any situation. And the payoff? You get things moving and gain the reputation as being authentic, nonpolitical, and effective.

Feedback is oxygen. It’s lifeblood. We can’t grow and develop without it.

Establishing improvement targets Monitoring progress Carefully planning for games

If you haven’t selected a peer coach, then you should give it some serious consideration. Pick someone who can watch you in action and regularly provide a perspective based on direct observation. Let them know you want to be coached, and you want their feedback.

Feedback doesn’t happen unless you make it happen. It’s easier to filter feedback out than to accept it. Appreciative feedback is one of the most powerful forms of communication you will ever engage in. In the end, everyone learns this important lesson: offering feedback can be risky, but not offering feedback is even riskier. Almost everyone falls prey to the false idea that if people aren’t giving you feedback, that means they don’t have any for you and everything is okay. You will distinguish yourself in a very positive way if you become good at offering and asking for feedback.

Not every feedback exchange must include both types, but every relationship does. If the feedback is always just one type or the other, trust and credibility will erode.

  1. Do you ask for feedback regularly? 2. When you ask for feedback, do you really intend to get it? 3. Do people often offer you feedback? 4. Do you frequently offer feedback to others? 5. When you do offer feedback, is it candid and open? 6. Do you consider the feedback you get from others to be a gift that will potentially help you, rather than a criticism that could hurt you? 7. Do the people who work with you expect to receive feedback regularly from you?

Your belief system needs to include the idea that feedback from others should not be feared but desired.

operating without feedback is like flying without radar: risky, dangerous, and even life threatening!

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

The hard things people need to say and hear are those things that can do the most to help them see the reality of a situation, a reality that can make all the difference between success and failure. That’s the prize. It’s not about the hard things hurting you; it’s about the hard things helping you see a reality that will move you to a better place to get the results you want.

Consider these keys to saying the hard things to others in an effort to help them see the reality of their situation: Ask for permission to go there: help them invite it. Provide a short tee up: frame what you are going to say within the right context. Go right at the topic: don’t sugarcoat it or beat around the bush. No coddling. Keep the discussion on point: don’t yield to the temptation to make them feel better in a way that causes them to miss the point. Be their friend in the foxhole: say the hard things with a strong dose of empathy. Be respectful: be polite, be calm. Focus on the prize: always tie your comments back to the desired results.

Reality is defined as “the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they appear or might be imagined.”

  1. You can effectively state the case of those who do not agree with you. 2. You have spoken with the person who you know will most likely disagree with you. 3. You have gone out of your way to seek the views of people whom you ordinarily would not speak to, but who might offer some insight into the situation. 4. You have confided in the person(s) you most trust and have convinced them that you really want to know what they think. 5. You have confided in the person(s) you most trust and have convinced them that you really want to know what they are hearing.

Take a minute to tee it up and explain that you want to know what they really think: 1. Do I have a reputation for being willing to hear the hard things? On a scale from 1 to 10, how well do you feel I am doing with respect to hearing the hard things in our communication? Note: Remember, it doesn’t matter if your reputation is justified, what matters is that you are able to create an experience for others that suggests you are willing to hear the hard things. 2. When is the last time you recall my being told something that you would consider a hard thing from anyone in the organization? How well do you feel I handled it? Note: If they can’t recall one, it doesn’t mean that it hasn’t happened. However, it might suggest that you need to try a little harder. 3. What’s a hard thing you think people would tell me today? Note: If you’re surprised by what they say, you may want to spend more time exploring reality with others. 4. What else do you think I need to do to ensure I am hearing the hard things in order to see reality today? Note: Probe to identify the “what” and the “who” of the situation.

speak up, say what you think, and be authentic in your views and expressions. Develop a reputation as someone who says what you think, who is willing to say the hard things, but who also maintains a sense of alignment and the ability to support the team once you have said what you need to say.

Here are some questions you should consider: First, how inventive, creative, imaginative, and resourceful are they in their job? And second, do they leave their fingerprints on everything they do? By this, we don’t mean whether they look for ways to take credit, but do they personalize their work, their reports, their desk, and their approach to making work better, to making the workplace “theirs”?

  1. For you, being personally invested in your job is? _____ a. A clear strength _____ b. A strength, but not an advantage _____ c. A weakness, but not a detriment _____ d. A clear weakness 2. Have you ever felt totally powerless, with no control over your circumstances or situation? _____ a. Yes _____ b. No 3. In an average day, would you say that you simply go through the motions? _____ a. Never _____ b. 30% or more of the time _____ c. 20% of the time _____ d. 10% of the time 4. In an average day, would you say that your coworkers go through the motions? _____ a. Never _____ b. 30% or more of the time _____ c. 20% of the time _____ d. 10% of the time

“What drives engagement today is having a mission that people believe in, and a leadership team that people want to be part of.”

Defining and getting clear on a few Key Results becomes a powerful tool to help generate personal investment and engagement.

Communicate the “why” to get the heart and head involved, because that’s where investment, and reinvestment, really kicks in.

Without personal investment and engagement, people tend to focus on their immediate task list, often to the detriment of the broader Key Results the team or organization is trying to deliver. Personal investment comes as people take time to poke at it, discuss it, and test it, particularly when that chance occurs in a team setting with those they must work with to carry out the task. When done properly, there is great value in the team discussion process that can accelerate individual buy-in and ownership. In fact, there really is no other way to get there.

“The capacity to learn is a gift; The ability to learn is a skill; The willingness to learn is a choice.”

The key to learning from success is to pause and take the time to understand what’s working. In fact, you should periodically conduct a What’s Working Inventory.

  1. Have you asked a “How do you do that?” question lately? 2. How long has it been since you said, “I don’t know”? 3. Do people see you as interested in understanding the details behind what they do? 4. Can you honestly say that you see how the contribution of others has made a difference in your success? 5. Would others consider you a mentor or a boss? A student or a numb employee? 6. What new skill have you gained in the last twelve months? 7. When something goes wrong, are you quick to point out what you could have done better?

Accountability begins by clearly defining results. If the results are not clear, then accountability will break down, resulting in lower morale and misaligned work,

In order to ensure that people’s work is aligned with your company’s Key Results, everyone needs to know what those results are.

More than 68 percent said that priorities changed frequently, creating confusion around the organization’s Key Results.

Without clearly defined results, confusion takes center stage, and the curtain rises on poor execution and ineffective action. Employee engagement suffers, and goals are missed because they are unclear or untracked.

Of course, the communication of all top organizational priorities should be accompanied by a compelling business case that explains why those results are strategically more important than others, and why they are important to the success of the organization. Then you need to repeat that communication at every opportunity.

every member of the organization, regardless of position, has an ethical responsibility to understand and take ownership for achieving its mission and Key Results. It’s an essential part of the worker-employer contract.

  1. What would I put on the “stop doing list” to align my daily work even more fully with the mission and Key Results? 2. Where do I feel like I am going through the motions, getting work done, but not seeing it make any real difference? 3. What would I put on the “start doing list” to get real traction in my daily work and make even more of a contribution to achieving the mission and Key Results? 4. If it were totally up to me, what changes would I make in my job duties to bring even more real impact to get the results we need?

No one is in a better position than you to determine what else you can do to align your daily work with the Key Results. When everyone in the organization makes that personal choice to take accountability to create even greater alignment in their daily work, performance will improve.

Ultimately, what we call alignment is a personal choice that reflects a sense of commitment to the direction in which the organization is headed.

Acting on the feedback you receive can often make the difference between success and failure, and that can be a really big difference.

“Unless the feedback is 100 percent positive, most people quickly defend themselves and begin rationalizing or justifying their actions or behaviors to lessen the impact or explain it away.”

Our tip is to listen to feedback and try doing just one thing differently. As you gather feedback, make a prioritized list of what you can do to respond, and then circle the top one and act on it.

  1. Do you think I have a reputation as one who acts on the feedback I receive? Do I have that reputation with you? 2. Is there feedback that you have given me that I haven’t acted on, but that you wish I had?
  1. Filter to act. Consider some recent feedback, re-create it in writing, then decide how you should act on it. 2. Do one thing. Don’t plan to do five things. Pick one and do it. 3. Be courageous. Go to those who gave you the feedback and say, “Here’s what I heard, and here’s what I’m planning to do with it. What do you think?” 4. Close the loop. Check in with those who gave you the feedback to ensure alignment so that they know you acted on it one way or another.

What else can I do? are perhaps the five most powerful words anyone can say

Consider a challenging problem you’re facing and ask these questions about any boundaries and barriers you see in your way: 1. If your efforts to find solutions were being hindered by a single boundary, what would that be? 2. How can you test that boundary to determine if it is real or self-imposed? 3. What would you include on a complete list of all the boundaries or barriers you think you’re facing? In other words, list everything that seems to lie beyond your control. 4. If you had the power to remove any boundary or barrier you are currently facing, what would that be? 5. What else can you do to remove/adjust that boundary to enable you to move forward unhindered?

62 percent of respondents said that people often failed to stick to established deadlines, viewing them as general guidelines rather than must-do organizational mandates.

When you’re doing all you can and “what more?” seems an impossible task, try thinking differently, step outside your box, and open your mind to solutions that were there all the time. Solutions you just couldn’t see.

“What else can we do to achieve desired results?” provides that context.

A recovered fumble can change the game. Even though each player has a clearly defined role, they all know none of that matters if a ball gets loose. When that happens, everyone’s a fumble jumper!

Clarify three to four organization-wide Key Results. Make those Key Results meaningful, measurable, and memorable. Ensure that each functional leader understands, aligns with, and promotes these enterprise-wide Key Results. Align every group’s goals with Key Results.

It’s the lack of alignment around a clear set of meaningful organizational priorities that allows people on teams, and teams within the organization, to remain fractured and combative. Only common results can pull people together across the great functional divides and get them solving problems together.

This brief yes/no assessment should help you pinpoint what you can do to speed up collaboration: Have you introduced a set of Key Results for your organization and asked functional leaders to connect what they do to those results? _____ Yes/No Have you scheduled time for cross-functional team building (a little bowling, for example)? _____ Yes/No Have you set aside time for an exchange of cross-functional feedback to facilitate open, real-time communication? _____ Yes/No Have you allowed time for cross-functional problem solving around the Key Results: “What else can we do to ensure we achieve these results?” _____ Yes/No Have you asked functional leaders to meet one-on-one to coordinate their working relationships and lead the collaboration effort? _____ Yes/No

If you want to infuse greater collaboration and joint accountability among teams, departments, functions, divisions, or peers, start with a set of clearly defined results that everyone can share.

  1. Invite a leader from another function to attend an occasional staff meeting and exchange input and feedback with your staff. 2. Get a “collaboration coach” from another team or division to facilitate greater teamwork between functions. Treat the goal of greater collaboration as seriously as any business result you need to achieve. 3. Solicit feedback from members of another team to tell you where you or your team’s actions help or hurt their efforts. 4. Insist on a collaborative approach during your one-on-one conversations. 5. When asked, “What do you think?” or, “What do you want to do?” ensure that your views are informed by the collaboration of others. 6. Declare that the collaborative model across functional boundaries is the way you want to operate.

“There is an expiry date for blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction. The moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.”

in light of any obstacles currently blocking your path: How would I grade my level of creativity on a scale from 1 to 10? Force yourself to come up with three new ideas before dinner. Who is the most creative person I know? Give them a call and brainstorm solutions with them. Who else has faced this challenge, and what did they do? Find out. If my life depended upon it, what else could I do? Consider everything, and make a list. How much research/reading have I done on the topic? Study and learn as much as you can about what others have done or recommended.

Of course, the objective isn’t just to take risks, it’s to get results; but that often can’t happen unless you are willing to place your bets on different strategies and tactics, understanding that the chance of failure is always present.

  1. Am I transparent with everyone about the risks that I am taking? Working in secret or hiding information will only work against you. 2. Are my suggestions self-serving, or do they clearly benefit the team and the organization? If your efforts will benefit only yourself, then you should carefully evaluate the course you are taking. 3. Am I asking for input and advice? Open communication helps to ensure necessary risk taking. 4. Am I spending too much time planning for failure? If you find yourself overly consumed with what could happen and who to blame if things go wrong, then this may be the wrong risk to be taking. 5. Can you make a clear case for the benefit this risk will create? If that case does not convince others, you should carefully reconsider pursuing the risk.

Thomas Edison not only failed his way to success, he insisted, “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.”

Ultimately, many solutions will benefit from faster cycle time. “How can we do this differently to create a more direct path to the problem?” is a good question to ask on more than one occasion and in more than one way.

“risks must be taken … the person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing … he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live… . / only a person who risks is free.”

A major key to maintaining a Culture of Accountability is people faithfully doing what they say they will do. Only then can they help themselves, their teams, and their organizations execute on initiatives and efforts in a way that produces desired results.

Consistently delivering on what you say you will do takes more than just checking items off a list. It needs to form the very core of who you are. It’s called integrity, and everyone needs more of it. Integrity drives you to go beyond the “to do” list, not only doing what you say you will do but doing the things people hope you will do.

You start by creating a “mean what you say” culture that enables people to do what they say they will do. Management must not overstress the organization with unrealistic priorities. They need to encourage a reality-based “mean what you say” dialogue that centers on setting achievable deadlines, conducting ongoing conversations about changing priorities, and engaging in straight talk about the trade-offs. When people can say yes to a deadline and mean it, they are liberated to get results. No longer will they just go through the motions.

Ask your five closest colleagues: “On a scale from one to ten, how well do I do everything I say I will do?” Ask your boss: “On a scale from one to ten, what’s my reputation for making things happen?” Ask your spouse/partner/significant other: “On a scale from one to ten, how often do I do what I say I will do?”

  1. Am I spending time developing my story to cover my tail, in case anything goes wrong? 2. Am I stuck in wait-and-see mode regarding any of the tough challenges that I am facing right now? 3. Did I play the “I’m confused” card recently, asking someone else to tell me what to do? 4. Have I told someone lately, “It’s not my job”? 5. Am I ignoring or denying the fact that there is a problem that I need to face? 6. Am I engaging in finger-pointing in any measurable way?

“Where performance is measured, performance improves. Where performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates.” What you pay attention to grows.

Real accountability produces transparency; transparency produces accountability. You can’t have one without the other.

“On a scale from 1 to 10, rank the progress you feel you’ve made to date.” Then we compare the rankings over time. Everything can be measured. Everything.

A leading indicator is an early-warning signal that tells you, before it’s too late, that the process is at risk for not producing the desired output. A lagging indicator tells you the outcome and that something might have gone wrong after the fact.

the accountable person looks for every opportunity to self-report. They are eager to review progress; they aren’t afraid of it.

  1. See It: What is the reality I (we) most need to acknowledge? 2. Own It: How am I (are we) contributing to the problem and/or solution? 3. Solve It: What else can I (we) do? 4. Do It: What am I (are we) accountable to do, By When?

The way we go about doing accountability (agreeing to deadlines, following up on commitments, prioritizing and reprioritizing work, divvying up responsibilities) largely determines the amount of trust that will exist in any relationship or organization and how we build an environment that sustains it.

  1. Obtain the perspectives of others 2. Communicate openly and candidly 3. Ask for and offer feedback 4. Hear and say the hard things to see reality 5. Be personally invested 6. Learn from both successes and failures 7. Ensure work is aligned with Key Results 8. Act on feedback 9. Constantly ask, “What else can I do?” 10. Collaborate across functional boundaries 11. Creatively deal with obstacles 12. Take the necessary risks 13. Do the things they say they will do 14. Stay Above The Line by not blaming others 15. Track progress with proactive and transparent reporting 16. Build an environment of trust
  1. When was the last time you admitted to others a misinterpretation, miscommunication, or mistake? _____ a. Today or yesterday _____ b. This week _____ c. Last month _____ d. Last year _____ e. Never 2. When was the last time you said you were sorry at work? _____ a. Today or yesterday _____ b. This week _____ c. Last month _____ d. Last year _____ e. Never 3. When was the last time someone gave you feedback that you are genuine in your dealings with others? _____ a. Today or yesterday _____ b. This week _____ c. Last month _____ d. Last year _____ e. Never 4. When was the last time someone accused you of being too political in your effort to get something done? _____ a. Today or yesterday _____ b. This week _____ c. Last month _____ d. Last year _____ e. Never 5. When was the last time you were told that people trust you in your role? _____ a. Today or yesterday _____ b. This week _____ c. Last month _____ d. Last year _____ e. Never

If you’re hitting roadblocks and dead ends, hold your own Innovation Day and see just how much it can spark creativity at every level of your organization.

“the sooner you come forward, the more open and candid you can be, the quicker you can then do something about it, and the less costly it will be for everyone.”

(1) What did you get done last month? (2) What do you hope to get done next month? (3) What critical issues do we need to discuss? (4) Give me a lesson you learned this month.

The right data delivered at the right time represents a valuable source of feedback, the kind that doesn’t lie!

The right kind of reports reveal the truth about an employee’s performance and can help you calibrate what you need to do to stay on course.

“The scariest question is the one you don’t want to hear the answer to.”

What ground rules do you need to make?

If you’re striving to fix some personal investment issues, try sharing a life story or two.

(1) How am I doing? (2) How are you doing? (3) How are we doing?

For a fun way to promote accountability, stage your own awards show and hand out an Ozzie or two.

If you’re looking for something to fix team investment on the job, borrow a practice from Daymon and urge your teams to perform a little service out of the office.

Developing a Culture of Accountability where people take ownership for achieving key organizational results requires a willingness to make the link between where you are and what you have done with where you want to be and what you are going to do to get there.

one of the keys to ensuring ownership at a company level is to scare people away before they’re even hired.

For a sense of ownership to spread more easily across your entire company, begin by hiring only those who show they get it—even before day one.

For a real answer to increasing personal investment in the organization, create an “ownership development program” that develops people over the long term.

If you’re struggling with employee stagnation or can see a lack of buy-in with employee investment, stimulate ownership by starting your own “university.”

“Are you doing what you were hired to do?”

According to Marty, if someone was hired as a software engineer to write software and instead slipped into some sort of quality assurance role where they were now running around putting out fires, they’d more than likely come in and just wait for the clock to strike 5:00 P.M.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Sharing botched projects allows you to process the problem by creating a discussion with others that can shed light on the situation and bring new insight.

“Taking a look at what went wrong is certainly helpful, but make sure you also identify and amplify what went right. Then duplicate it.”

“Ask simple questions, so you get simple answers: What worked? Why did it work? How do I feel about what worked? Was it planned or luck? Is my preparation what created the win? Can I duplicate it with other clients or tasks?”

“We’ve learned so much more by simply observing firsthand what works and what doesn’t. It was often shocking that the customer uses the products the way they do.”

In software, you can’t know what’s going to work, so, as Chuck put it, “When you build any new product, there’s no sure way to know if the dogs are going to eat the dog food.”

Failing fast involves egoless work. Egoless programming. Egoless operating. Egoless analysis. To remove ego, structure projects as a team effort. No solo acts. No product is any one person’s “baby.” Otherwise, people can’t criticize a product without criticizing the person. To fail fast and learn quickly, remove ego and make everything a team effort.

“These rallies have created a culture where throughout the week everyone is actually setting people up for success. The rallies are a time for recognizing people. For intentionally catching the big successful aha moments where we want everyone in the company to see that some special success has happened.”

Built into each project plan is a debriefing session focused on (1) what went well and (2) what needs to be done better. This practice of ruthlessly debriefing in order to learn from success and failure takes place in a meeting where attendees are expected to brainstorm and speak openly and candidly. The hope is that the company can learn from the past and avoid the same mistakes moving forward.

To improve your own company’s ability to learn from either success or failure, implement your own postmortem meeting.

For some impactful hands-on learning from your own successes or failures, ask the customer.

“If you want to build a project that is perfect, you’ll never succeed. You must allow failure, and people need to know it, so tell them.”

He said he often hears how people are afraid to fail, but believes that’s not really the case. They just need to know that it’s okay to fail, that it’s all part of ultimately succeeding.

Without having a clear objective, accountability serves no real purpose, is tough to measure, hard to implement, and is difficult to sustain over time.

“To reach my goals, to reach our goals, I have to demonstrate I understand them, I know them, I talk about them, and I practice them.”

Be intentional and control your day before it controls you. Make the first hour of the day count.

“The only real way to measure progress, the only real way to see if activity has any real teeth is how that activity ties to the Key Results the company is after. Activity doesn’t matter, it’s all about results.”

“No one should be working on anything that isn’t pointing in an obvious way to the organization’s Key Results.”

It’s one thing to get feedback, it’s quite another to act on it. When it comes to feedback, the real prize is won when you use it to get better results, strengthen relationships, and achieve better outcomes all around.

To encourage more feedback in others, act by sending your own version of a stuffed giraffe; it just might make feedback easier for everyone in the future.

Organizational culture is developed within the team setting. You spend a lot of time with your team. During that time, experiences are created that begin to normalize how you all work together. That’s culture. It’s powerful when that culture is formed around an open and free exchange of feedback that people listen to and visibly act on.

Getting a team to act on the feedback they receive from one another creates real traction and ensures true progress toward results.

“When we have a product planning session you’re not allowed to volunteer your opinion, you’re only able to volunteer what you’ve picked up directly from a customer. You can’t say, ‘I want us to improve this… .’ When people slip and couch it like that, they are invariably asked, ‘Which customer told you to say that?’ ‘What data do you have from customers that supports that?’ ‘Whom did you talk to?’ ‘What did they say exactly?’” When it comes to product development, it’s the customer’s feedback that gets acted on. Why? Because when feedback comes from a customer, “It keeps the hard-charging opinions about what the product should and shouldn’t do out of it.”

Processing and filtering customer input allows for objectivity and promises that whatever action you decide to take is more in line with market demand than with personal opinions.

What better way to demonstrate that a person’s feedback is being acted on than by celebrating their willingness to provide it?

Asking “What else can I do?” is the very essence of taking accountability and is the Solve It question. It’s all about your ability to engage personally, and deeply, with what you can and should be doing, despite the gravitational tug from all the reasons/excuses that can drag you down Below The Line.

Asking, “What else can I do?” when you discover that you are wrong, in any situation or after suffering any personal setback, illuminates the path you need to take

“Ask more than tell, listen more than talk.”

“There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.”

By insisting everyone uses “What else can we do?” whenever they face a pesky problem, you, too, can kill excuse making and create a Solve It corporate culture.

“People aren’t machines. At the basic level work among human beings is still a social exchange.”

“The key to team wins is for everyone in each position to understand what the other positions are doing and why they’re doing it.” If teams don’t collaborate effectively across functional boundaries, they lose.

As he put it, in sports you might be teaching a player to cut right or left, but until players know why they are cutting right or left, they will never be exceptional.

The right coach will help you see what is getting in the way of making progress and may help shed some light on other steps you might take to overcome obstacles.

“I review my list with my boss and key stakeholders, asking them if it makes sense, whether it aligns with our business goals, or if I’m missing anything.”

The very best teams all have one thing in common—their members share a common purpose and feel accountable for a common outcome.

If you are afraid to take risks and continue to push yourself forward, then there will be some obstacles you will never overcome.

“There is no ‘easy button’ when it comes to beating the competition. Success is simply about working hard and delivering results and staying uncomfortable.”

“Intentionally look for opportunities and make choices that will take you outside your comfort zone. And do this every day.”

Fear keeps people from the risk associated with doing their best.

Risk taking at the team level always requires clear accountability. It’s all too easy to hide behind the team or someone else, and that can lead to irresponsible risks or no risks at all.

you don’t hold teams accountable, you hold team leaders accountable because someone must step up and take ownership for the ultimate decision that leads to solutions.

“We made it a practice as a team to just say, ‘Yes, we do,’ ‘Yes, we can.’ Then we’d hang up the phone and scramble to figure it out.” That kind of necessary risk taking was essential for success and growth, and it eventually brought his team bigger jobs.

“To the extent possible, I try to get teams to solve their own problems and be rewarded for their own solutions.”

Darryl understood through their actions that Solving It always requires risk, sometimes very personal risk, and that an organization’s leaders need to demonstrate the value of disruption by going first.

“He taught me the importance of commitment, of doing what you say you’re going to do. It really isn’t complicated. If you say you’re going to do something, you do it. If you don’t plan on doing it, then don’t overcommit.”

“If it can be done, then we’ll do it. If it can’t be done by us, then no one can do it.”

Ensuring that your team commits itself to thinking and acting all in will create the right foundation for people to do what they say they will do.

Leadership increases accountability because it’s visible. Leadership forces people to lead, to do what they say they’ll do. Otherwise teams fail, and eventually the whole house of cards can come tumbling down. To fix any lack of doing, put your people in charge.

“I’m going to work at a place I love, in an industry I love being involved in because of the challenge and excitement. Live it, breathe it, understand it, research it, study it. Learn every day.”

the rising tide of positive peer pressure can lift all boats.

Agreeing to behave according to our accountability model makes it easier to coach one another, exchange feedback, and conduct the conversations that are needed to work through difficult challenges and ensure progress.

Division of labor tends to bring with it a division of responsibility that can distance everyone from the one factor they all share: results.

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Confusing activity for results can cause people to feel successful when they get their job done, even if that does not add to the achievement of the ultimate organizational result.

Going public can make all the difference between keeping a commitment and failing to follow through. That kind of transparency announces to the world that you are committed and willing to close the back door on backsliding. It’s important to be transparent, not only about your level of commitment but also about the progress you are making toward achieving it.

thrives on the one-on-ones where she’s able to report what’s needed, obtain clarity, and ensure alignment.

Our observation is that organizations tend to report on too much, making it difficult to keep everything actionable.

“In software, you don’t want to release a huge chunk of code only to find out something’s wrong with it. You release small bite-sized chunks so you can pick up problems quickly.”

“If you can learn about mistakes fast, then fixing it is generally fast, and not as costly in time, money, and resources.”

It’s easy for a team to get stuck in a form of groupthink where they start managing to opinions instead of managing to the facts. Tracking progress with proactive and transparent reporting for a team must be fact based and data driven. Only then can you truly create real accountability, because you will be dealing with real numbers, real facts, and real results. Your best insurance policy against coming under the spell of a Phantom Reality is to get the facts and study the data.

“What gets measured gets attention. So to have your teams and company do better, find the right metrics and start measuring and reporting.”

“most organizations pay the majority of attention to lagging indicators, when it’s more effective to focus on leading indicators.”

Lagging manages the result. Leading makes it happen. To make consistent progress that is more easily tracked, focus on leading indicators and respond proactively to any early warning signals you may see.

Executive vice president Darren Lee, of software developer and marketer Proofpoint, told us that one of their most effective team practices for tracking progress is the ten-minute daily stand-up meeting. Keeping it to ten minutes eliminates the casual “How was your weekend?” They stand before a whiteboard and get right to it, discussing posted To Do cards. If a task is accomplished, the person responsible moves the card along. If not, he or she can’t move the card but is expected to straight-up explain, “No, I didn’t finish it. I’ll fix it by tomorrow.” The team then helps by identifying the blockers, whatever might be standing in the way. Everyone agrees to these blockers, and to when and how they will move the blockers out of the way. That’s it; they don’t get into the politics or make it personal. By holding this short, fast stand-up meeting, everyone on the team can tell whether progress is being made.

Help everyone understand how reported numbers hit close to home and you’ll get better numbers and more engaged reporting.

“When you know you’ll be facing yet another agenda with your name next to an action item, that kind of pressure will drive some very healthy accountable behavior.”

anyone not engaged and not on the accountability train really isn’t doing their job.

Accountable people can be counted on to do what they say, to not blame others, and to listen carefully to their colleagues, all essential ingredients to building trust.

“If it’s not fatal, if it’s just a flesh wound, then sometimes you have to let the wound happen.”

“Trust opens people up to give you the truth, rather than just telling you what you want to hear.”

“To elevate others, you want to try to constantly eliminate your own job by teaching it to subordinates, so you don’t have to do today what you did yesterday.”

To increase trust and achieve a great deal of job satisfaction, start replacing yourself by coaching others on how to do it.

Teams will work harder as a unit when they feel mutual trust and mutual respect. We’ve all been part of teams where trust is absent, dysfunction reigns, and gossip and infighting rule the day. But team leaders can make a difference.

“Does everyone in the room want to be part of a high-performing team?”

“Most assembled teams don’t ever think to ask the question, let alone intentionally decide what they want to be. People are usually just thrown into a room and start working.”

Getting everyone to set their expectations on how they will work together and consciously think about what it will take to create a high-performing team will yield huge dividends. To build team trust, make sure you talk about it.

If you want a better exchange of ideas and a more vibrant team culture, try partnering people. The eventual freedom will open minds and mouths and improve your culture and results.

Allocate time to participate in training others on a regular basis. You are not only making an investment in developing talent, you are also building trust with more familiarity and discussion.

The primary purpose of Creating a Culture of Accountability is to establish a working environment that motivates people at every level to take accountability to overcome problems, find solutions, and get results. Doing so will help you to discover every possible option, tap every available resource, and look for every conceivable way to make results happen. Act like this and you will plug into every person who can help you produce the desired result. Connecting with people and energizing their efforts toward the desired goal can be done only when accountability is clearly defined. Then, and only then, can you engender the necessary trust to align and mobilize an entire organization to do whatever it takes to Do It and get results.

“When you guide and don’t tell, people may fail a bit more, but they will also grow more, learn more, have more ownership, and bring more results to the company table.”

when someone says, ‘Just go do it, we trust you, so trust yourself,’ that’s empowering and produces real results.”

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