{"id":2039,"date":"2019-01-17T09:03:33","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T14:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/?p=2039"},"modified":"2019-01-18T20:42:22","modified_gmt":"2019-01-19T01:42:22","slug":"accountability-and-responsibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/17\/accountability-and-responsibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Accountability and Responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accountability and responsibility\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sound<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like the same thing. They definitely represent the same concept &#8211; <\/span><b>ownership.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;This thing is mine.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I got this.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I want this to be successful\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">so hard<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that <strong>I will <\/strong><\/span><strong>make sure<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> it succeeds<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, the concepts of accountability and responsibility are very close. There&#8217;s one main difference, though:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Accountability is ownership by an <strong>individual<\/strong>. Responsibility is ownership shared by a <strong>group<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ownership in any form can&#8217;t be forced &#8211; its very<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0nature means that the recipient has to be <em>willing to<\/em> <em>own<\/em>. Ownership can either be taken (&#8220;I&#8217;ll take this thing, it&#8217;s mine now.&#8221;), or accepted (&#8220;You want me to take over this thing? Okay, I agree!&#8221;). The ability to\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">take over<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ownership of something means that it either has no current owner or that the current owner is willing to give it up (including being told by a superior). Sensing a theme? The flow of ownership is <strong>voluntary<\/strong>, all around.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The flow of ownership must be voluntary.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>What Does this Look Like?<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Scenario<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>An application breaks in such a way that customers are affected. A <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Root_cause_analysis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Root Cause Analysis<\/a>\u00a0(RCA) meeting is set up among developers, admins, management, etc to discuss the reason(s) the break happens.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Example: RCA Fail<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The RCA goes <em>perfect<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No one wastes time worrying about or establishing <em>blame<\/em>, they find the true root cause quickly, and a plan is made to fix what needs to be fixed &#8211; everyone agrees, and it makes sense. A particular group says that they will take\u00a0<\/span><b>responsibility<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0for fixing that root cause issue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Six months later, the same problem happens again, and customers are <em>again<\/em> affected. The team that took responsibility for the fix feels shame upon all of their houses.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Example: RCA Win<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The RCA goes <em>perfect<\/em>.\u00a0No one wastes time worrying about or establishing <em>blame<\/em>, they find the true root cause quickly, and a plan is made to fix what needs to be fixed &#8211; everyone agrees, and it makes sense. A particular group says that they will take\u00a0<b>responsibility<\/b>\u00a0for fixing that root cause issue. (Sound familiar so far? <em><a href=\"https:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/CatchPhrase\/Psych\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wait for iiiiit<\/a><\/em>&#8230;)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Specific individuals within the responsible group agree to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">send out the recap<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">make the work ticket to track the necessary fix<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">prioritize the work appropriately among the other work the group is responsible for<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Six months later,\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">no repeat issue!\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why?<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The difference is\u00a0<\/span>accountability<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; <\/span><b>ownership by specific people<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Responsibility = Teamwork<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>Responsibility is ownership shared by a <strong>group<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Responsibility is primarily about <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">clarity<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">teamwork<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Clarity tells a team what to do by explaining their goals, objectives, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">exactly what their designated responsibilities are<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Teamwork helps the members of the team support each other while they do those things <em>(*cough* <a href=\"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/category\/community\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">community<\/a>\u00a0*cough*)<\/em>. Some organizations are <em>great<\/em> at responsibility, but they still struggle.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Accountability = Necessary Risk<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>Accountability is ownership by an <strong>individual<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We said in the successful RCA example that the reason for the success is the <em>accountability<\/em> of the team members who took on specific tasks. Accountability is exactly that &#8211; someone <\/span><b>taking ownership of an objective or task<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This puts their reputation and their overall trust level on the line in exchange for the ability to say &#8220;I will make sure this happens.&#8221; Due to the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">extreme clarity<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about whose &#8220;fault&#8221; it is if something goes wrong, this is\u00a0<\/span><b>inherently riskier\u00a0<\/b>than a team&#8217;s responsibility.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the risk, there are benefits to accountability. If a person has <\/span><b>clear ownership<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of a task, they also have the <\/span><b>authority<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to make sure the task is done &#8211; and done correctly. If they do the task well, they also get back exponentially better reputation and exponentially more trust than they initially gambled.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Which One is Better? <em>Haha, trick question!<\/em><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Responsibility is awesome, and it&#8217;s a great step in the right direction. However, responsibility <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">alone<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is never going to be enough to accomplish things. A group can take responsibility for a list of tasks but they&#8217;ll\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">never complete<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">any of them<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> until a specific person takes or accepts\u00a0<\/span><b>accountability <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for each task. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is true on a larger scale for an <em>organization<\/em> too &#8211; an organization&#8217;s broad objectives have tasks that need to be completed for those objectives to be successful. Those tasks will not get done until <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one person<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0takes them on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the end, if the goal is to make the organization as effective as possible, <em>stuff needs doing<\/em>. Responsibility tells groups that some of that stuff is theirs to do, and accountability gets it done &#8211;\u00a0<em>both<\/em> help people, teams, and organizations be successful<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inspiration for this post came from\u00a0<\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.partnersinleadership.com\/insights-publications\/responsibility-vs-accountability\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this article<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0&#8211; lots of great follow-up info if you&#8217;re interested.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quick Addendum<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> A <em>caution<\/em> &#8211; it&#8217;s important not to\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i>over commit<\/i>\u00a0with accountability. Teams (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">responsibility)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can flex tasks between people (or shuffling task priority), and they can grow in capacity by adding people. Individuals <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(accountability)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can&#8217;t flex in capacity to the extent teams can. The most effective people <em>can<\/em> flex their capacity when necessary &#8211; but <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">within limits <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and ideally\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with a healthy balance in order to <em>remain<\/em> effective<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Accountability and responsibility\u00a0sound like the same thing. They definitely represent the same concept &#8211; ownership.\u00a0 &#8220;This thing is mine.&#8221; &#8220;I got this.&#8221; &#8220;I want this to be successful\u00a0so hard that I will make sure it succeeds.&#8221; In fact, the concepts of accountability and responsibility are very close. There&#8217;s one main difference, though:\u00a0 Accountability is ownership &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/17\/accountability-and-responsibility\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,40],"tags":[66,67,65],"wf_post_folders":[],"coauthors":[26,11],"class_list":["post-2039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organizations","category-people","tag-accountability","tag-ownership","tag-responsibility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2039"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2374,"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions\/2374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2039"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=2039"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul-repairs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}