Category Archives: Accountability

It’s What People Believe

Leave a reply

“People have a fair, intuitive sense of their own capability,” Pablo said. “And, they yearn for opportunity to exercise their full potential. To do otherwise causes people to wilt. A great deal of a person’s self-esteem, even identity, comes from the value they see in the work that they do.”

“So, the system in which they work has impact on how they behave?” I floated.

“It’s not just the system, it’s what people believe about the system. What we believe, our assumptions, the way we see the world is what drives our behavior. Look, the real question is, if we believe that people want to fully participate at their highest level of capability, spread their wings toward independence, that they do not need a carrot and stick to get on with their work, then what kind of managerial system would we create?”

“This sounds a bit idealistic, don’t you think?” I countered.

“Not at all,” Pablo replied. “This is about hard nosed work. Making decisions and solving problems, tough decisions and difficult problems.”

Keeping Agreements

Leave a reply

“I wish my people would keep the promises they made,” Daniella lamented.

“How well do you keep your promises?” I asked.

“What do you mean,” she wanted to know.

“I was having a beer with a good friend who owned the bar,” I began the story. “As we finished, he reached in his pocket and pulled out some cash to pay for the beers. I asked him why, since he owned the bar, did he have to pay for his own beers? He looked at me and said, ‘I do not want to teach my employees how to steal.'”

I repeated my question. “How well do you keep your promises? The distance in which you keep your agreements, goes a long way to determine how well your team keeps theirs.”

What We Can Fix

Leave a reply

“Time to do my annual performance appraisals,” Sarah sighed.

“You know, Deming said you can double the impact of those annual appraisals if you just do them every two years,” I smiled.

“I know, I know,” she agreed. “They just seem so one-sided. The team member sits there and waits for me to deliver the dastardly news that they will complain about to everyone else on the team. By the time I am finished with the bunch, they are depressed and irritated.”

“Instead of delivering nasty news, have you ever asked them how they think they are doing?” I wondered out loud.

“But, what if they have an inflated sense of their own performance?” she replied.

“It’s a starting place. Competent organizations are populated by people who have an accurate self-assessment of their individual competence. It’s a conversation we can have, to talk about expectations, skill development, performance. Those are productive conversations. Those are things we can fix. We cannot fix self-deception.”

Any Foothold

Leave a reply

Ellie was stumped. “So, all I have to do is think of my team as competent and that’s it?”

“It cannot be a made-up competence,” I chuckled. “This is not think-positive-thoughts day. Your team is good at something connected to contribution. And, if you cannot identify it, ask the team.”

“What if all they come up with is they show up to work on time?” she frowned.

“Then start there. Look for any foothold. Showing up to work on time creates synchronicity, contributes to a positive dependence on each other. That’s not such a bad starting place.”

Assumptions and Blame

Leave a reply

“I’m done with the drama,” Ellie protested. “I try to promote a positive atmosphere around here, but all I get is bullying and backstabbing.”

“Oh, really?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “Everyone seems to scatter for cover when something goes wrong, blaming other people, scooting out from under any accountability.”

“Are you sure this isn’t an isolated incident?” I wanted to know.

“No, this is more like a constant mental state of the team,” Ellie explained. “People position themselves so they always have an out, denying they have any responsibility. The air of blame is so thick you can cut it. You can feel it in the quiet whispers, the general tone of water-cooler talk.”

“I assume this is not organic evolution,” I smiled. “How did things get this way?”

“It started with our continuous improvement process. We were looking for things to improve on. We made a list, or rather I made a list. No one else could come up with anything.”

“Oh, so you’re the culprit,” my smile turned to a grin.

“Don’t lay this at my feet,” Ellie protested. “It’s the team that can’t get their act together.”

“And, you are their manager,” I nodded. “You describe the team as a group of incompetent players. And incompetence always seeks out blame. Competent people are in the game to get better. So, which do you have? Incompetence or competence?”

Ellie sat in silence before she finally spoke. “I knew you were going to pin this on me. You think my team’s behavior is influenced by the way I see them. As competent or incompetent.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Our assumptions, the way we see the world drives behavior. If you see your team as incompetent, you will drive blaming behavior. If you see your team as competent, you will drive improvement. So, you better find out what they are good at.”

Choices Already Made?

2 Replies

“I don’t think my team is ready,” Ellis warned me.

“How so?” I asked.

“This new project landed in our queue this week with an impossible deadline,” he explained, hoping his explanation would let him off the hook.

“And?”

“I told the team that we could either choose to be successful in this project or we could choose not, it was up to them.”

“Do you think the team can suddenly decide success, or is success, or failure, determined by the decisions and choices that have already been made?”

What is Possible?

Leave a reply

“I just finished the org chart for my team,” Kayden announced, holding up a piece of paper with circles and arrows.

“I see that,” I replied. “Why do you think an org chart is important? It’s only a small team, 18 production people and two supervisors, then there is you.”

“You said it was important, remember?” Kayden was quick to respond.

I nodded. “Yes, I did. But, do you remember why?”

“So people will know who to report to,” he followed my nod.

“So, you think you were made manager so people could report to you?” I asked.

“Well, it does sound a little arrogant.”

“What is organizational structure?” I pressed. “I mean, we draw boxes on a page and connect them with lines. What does it all mean?”

“The lines connect people that work together,” Kayden floated.

“So, what? They work together. What do the lines mean? Look at your chart. Most of the lines are vertical and are connected to a supervisor or connected to you? What do the lines mean?”

“It’s the way we define the working relationships between people,” Kayden finally stammered.

“Now, we are getting somewhere. An org chart defines the working relationships between people. And, we have to forge the kind of relationships that move the company forward, with respect to these two things – Accountability and Authority. In every working relationship, who is accountable for what? And, in every working relationship, who has the authority to make decisions? The right working relationships determine what can be done, what is possible. The not-right working relationships lead us into counter-productive activity and thwart what is possible. That’s why an org chart helps us understand those working relationships.”

Getting Better

Leave a reply

“Tell me, Lorraine,” I continued. “Do you expect this team member to get better, in terms of skill, over time?”

“Yes, I do,” she snapped. “Absolutely. As the team gets more experience, each of them should get better, become more competent.”

“And, is that in their role description?” I asked.

“Well, no,” she replied. “Our job descriptions tell them what they are supposed to do, not that they should get better at doing it.”

“So, in the role description, you don’t have a Key Area called Professional Development that talks about learning skills, becoming more competent and demonstrating increasing proficiency?”

Activity vs Accomplishment

Leave a reply

I almost walked past her office, but I saw Lorraine with a pensive look through the doorway. “Well?” I said.

“How did you know to stop by?” she replied.

“Dumb luck,” I nodded. “What’s up?”

“I just finished a 1-1 with one of my team members, and I’m frustrated,” Lorraine began. “He has been on the bubble for the past three months, and he knows it. He’s been paying particular attention to all the tasks, and I will admit, he shows up every day, on time, doing exactly what we told him to do, but he is accomplishing almost nothing.”

“And, I assume he had a job descripton,” I chuckled, knowing the answer to my next question. “It was a series of tasks and activities, but little discussion on expectations, objectives or outputs?”

Lorraine looked at me with a furrowed brow. “Yes, maybe that’s the point. In our 1-1, he described how he was doing everything we told him to do, but we never described the output, more specifically, what we expect.”

“Not unusual,” I said. “Most jobs are described as activities, not accomplishments. So, irrespective of the output, most people think that doing a good job is doing the activities. Few roles are described in terms of accomplishment. And, I further assume that, during your 1-1, there was no discussion of accomplishment. And, that’s why you are frustrated.”

Evidence of Potential

Leave a reply

Jody’s face was red. Not an embarrasing red, but one of anger. “I just sat through my quarterly review and my manager gave me some feedback that I find difficult to take,” she said.

“Tell me more,” I replied.

“The last two people I hired are underperforming. And, they’ve both been here for six weeks, so we are finished with orientation, finished with initial training, they know what time to show up for work and where the coffee machine is. But, they aren’t cutting it.”

“And, you are in the hot seat, I suppose?”

“Yes, and I don’t know how to defend my hiring decision. Both candidates came highly recommended, had a ton of experience and showed a lot of promise in the interview,” she explained.

“The recommendations came from whom?” I wanted to know.

“One was a former boss who wrote a glowing letter, but at the same time, was the one who made the decision to terminate. The other was a technical consultant, and, yes, was a friend of the candidate we hired. I had high hopes for both of them.”

“And what do you know now that you didn’t know six weeks ago?” I asked.

“Experience doesn’t mean much. Just because someone performed brilliantly in one place, doesn’t mean they will do so somewhere else. It’s a different company, with a different team, different customers and a different service mix. And, just because I can see potential doesn’t mean the potential is real, it just means I had my fingers crossed.”

“I know most managers want prospective candidates with potential, to grow and develop, to take increasing accountability. And, most managers have their fingers crossed. You know my bias, that I will never hire anyone without evidence of skill, disposition or character. So, if you want to hire someone with potential, what does evidence of potential look like? Two clues, interview for error rate and deadlines.”