Quotes About Accountability

We haven't done anything," Luke agreed, though he knew that was no guarantee of safety. Plenty of things happened to people who hadn't done anything - things that were never discussed again, or at least not by anyone with any sense.

We're not very good when we're spending other people's money.

there are two honest reasons so many people hate the thought of the functions they perform being systematized: Either they're too inflexible to learn a new way of doing things, or they're scared to death of the accountability that systematization will bring.

Hackett found that leaders at "above average" companies are surprisingly different in this critical measure. They identify an average of just twenty-one priorities instead of 372. Editing the list isn't easy, but the payoff is huge. Time and money get tightly focused on the crucial activities that drive the firm's competitive advantage, and everyone has a clearer idea what to do and no problem deciding who's accountable.

Poorly led teams "systematically underreported" their mistakes. In layman's terms, they covered up their mistakes.

Having a good work ethic means taking the initiative to get the job done, delivering as agreed without excuses or blame, being willing to make personal sacrifice for the good of the organization, and being loyal to the company and people with whom you work.

You can't expect people to think and act like owners," he said, "unless they understand how what they do creates economic value. And when people are taught how they not only create economic value but that it's constantly measured and evaluated and that they stand to share in the profits, then thinking and acting like the owner becomes very easy.

Doing what you say, leading by example, showing consistency and fairness—these actions all build trust between managers and their teams over the long term.

La responsabilidad siempre es ajena, y es tan fácil esparcirla…

Hay que cruzar una línea que ya no puede descruzarse para comprender y arrepentirse, para querer echarse atrás y aceptar que se ha metido la pata; hay que cometer un error hasta el fondo para comprobar que era un error, y entonces se intenta salir de él cuando ya es tarde para deshacerlo sin daños, o sin estropicios.

Thus bad begins and worse remains behind'

Our digital experiences are out of body. This biases us toward depersonalised behaviour in an environment where one's identity can be a liability. But the more anonymously we engage with others, the less we experience the human repercussions of what we say and do. By resisting the temptation to engage from the apparent safety of anonymity, we remain accountable and present - and are much more likely to bring our humanity with us into the digital realm

Seeing my own contribution to my circumstances makes me stronger, not weaker. If I contribute to my own problems, there are things I have the power to change.

All three elements of blame are present: you caused this, I'm judging you negatively, and implicit in what I am saying is that one way or another you will be punished, especially if it happens again.

I appreciate that. I'm feeling bad too. Let's retrace our steps and think about how this happened. I suspect we may each have contributed to the problem. From your point of view, did I do anything differently this time?

When Blame Is the Goal, Understanding Is the Casualty

When your real goal is finding the dog, fixing the ceiling, and preventing such incidents in the future, focusing on blame is a waste of time. It neither helps you understand the problem looking back, nor helps you fix it going forward.

Blame Can Leave a Bad System Undiscovered

As "shifters" we tend to see ourselves as innocent victims – when something goes wrong, it's always because of what someone else did. Others of us have the opposite tendency: we are all too aware of the negative consequences of our own actions. In the face of this, others' contributions seem insignificant. An "absorber" tends to feel responsible for everything.

While we all need to feel accepted as we are, we also need to hear feedback—particularly when our behavior is affecting others. Being accepted isn't an escape hatch from responsibility for consequences, as we discuss in more detail in chapter 10. So, seek acceptance. And work to make amends with the kids and with the funders (and with the car).

The blame frame creates a difficult burden. You have to feel confident that others are at fault, and that you aren't, to feel justified in raising an issue.

When competent, sensible people do something stupid, the smartest move is to try to figure out, first, what kept them from seeing it coming and, second, how to prevent the problem from happening again. Talking about blame distracts us from exploring why things went wrong and how we might correct them going forward. Focusing instead on understanding the contribution system allows us to learn about the real causes of the problem, and to work on correcting them.

Blame Is About Judging, and Looks Backward

Can you say a little more about how you see things? • What information might you have that I don't? • How do you see it differently? • What impact have my actions had on you? • Can you say a little more about why you think this is my fault? • Were you reacting to something I did? • How are you feeling about all of this? • Say more about why this is important to you. • What would it mean to you if that happened? If