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5: Accountability - Move the Needle

To succeed as a team, each member must do what they're supposed to do, when they're supposed to do it, ad yield the results they are supposed to achieve. Which is to say that each member must take personal responsibility for doing his part, and is motivated to do so because they are personally accountable to the team.

But very often the team becomes a herd in which individuals become hidden, and their personal contributions are unknown. The credit or the blame become diffused, such that a person who contributes nothing takes credit for others' work or shifts the blame for failure to others. To the lazy and inept, the opportunity to be hidden in a group is highly attractive. To the ambitious and the competent, participation on a team can be highly demoralizing.

A person who is accountable is one who can be relied upon. He will set clear expectations, and then meet them. This is exactly the quality that makes a person a good employee or team member, but it is also the quality that employees and team members expect of their leaders. A leader who is not accountable is not credible or trustworthy.

Being accountable is sometimes difficult because it requires us to make and keep obligations to others - even when we don't feel like it. It is particularly difficult to accept accountability when there is risk that we will not be able to achieve the outcomes others are asking us to commit to achieving.

(EN: One concern here is that the author seems to regard accountability as entirely intrinsic - a person's confidence in themselves and their willingness to commit. That's part of it, but the more difficult part is committing in an environment of risk: our success depends on environmental conditions and the actions of others in which we have no certainty - such that achieving the desired outcome is uncertain based on our own abilities and resources. No matter how hard we work at it, we may not be able to succeed on our own steam, due to factors beyond our control.)

To create accountability in a group of people, we create "containers," which are accountability structures that assign the responsibility of specific outcomes to specific groups, then subdivide that responsibility to the individual level, such that it is clear to each person what is expected of him.

The author describes four practices that will help drive accountability in a group:

1. Utilize the accountability equation
2. Create clear accountability structures with needle-movers
3. Track results via weekly reporting
4. Reward high performance and provide consequences for low performance.

It is critical that these practices are done explicitly, so that team members are clear on roles and responsibilities - they know what they have to do, and they know what others have to do. Knowing what you must do creates a sense of esteem, and knowing what others will do creates a sense of safety and security.

The author steps into neuroscience, suggesting that two important "tasty brain chemicals" are created by having clear accountability: dopamine is triggered by the desire for reward and oxytocin is triggered by the feeling of connection.

Utilize the accountability equation

Accountability is supported by a system of rewards and punishment for the consequences of action - which drives people to actions that will earn rewards, or to avoid actions that will result in punishments.

The author has an equation ...

• Clear Expectations, PLUS
• Owners Agreement, PLUS
• Personal Rewards EUQALS
• High Accountability

Problems with accountability generally start at the top of an organization: employees fall in line with their superiors. When a leader sets expectations and takes on the responsibility of achieving them, his followers do the same. When a leader leaves expectations vague and seeks to avoid being blamed for failures, then his followers will also do the same.

The author stresses the importance of an "accountability partner," which is a person with whom you share what you accomplished, what you did not accomplish (and why), and what you plan to accomplish next - on a regular weekly basis. This is common in superior-subordinate relationships and happens among the members of a team, but it is also important to get input from disinterested parties in order to get an unbiased perspective - a person in another department, who is entirely detached from a project.

We are positively motivated to be accountable by our desire to achieve positive results, but it is also important to remain aware of the consequences of our failure to achieve them. The use of negative consequences (punishment) is vey common in our culture - as children, we are dragooned into doing things because of the implicit threat of the consequences of failing to do them: if you don't eat your vegetables you won't get any dessert, if you don't make good grades you won't be permitted to participate in activities you enjoy, etc.

(EN: The author seems in favor of this, but I have serious reservations about situations in which "leaders" dole out punishments that are unrelated to the task at hand. I can't deny that it is effective to do so on a very basic level, but when there is no clear connection between consequence and action, then the leader is motivating by means of threat, such that the punishment is disconnected from the action ... it does not happen because we failed to accomplish the goal, but instead at the arbitrary will of a master, which undermines a sense of justice and personal responsibility.)

Setting clear accountability creates a sense of security and purpose - knowing that if I do not perform, I will not be rewarded (and likely suffer punishment) gives a sense of certainty that if I do perform, I will be rewarded and avoid punishment. Knowing this in advance creates a sense of justice that enables a person to accept a reward as deserved or a punishment as justified.

Create clear accountability structures with needle-movers

The author uses the term "needle movers" to indicate those activities that achieve results. There are many tasks with which we may busy ourselves, but not all of them contribute to the accomplishment of specific goals and move the business forward. Being able to sort and prioritize is critical to focus on the most important goals.

The author suggests a person should have no more than three needle-moves, because each activity has sub-activities beneath them that will also need to be attended. Thus, three key activities are essential to having a manageable workload and being able to give sufficient focus and energy to each.

Also, she suggests the term "needle movers" because goals are binary - we succeed or we fail at accomplishing a goal. Needle movers are more linear: we may not achieve total success, but we have moved the needle in the right direction, toward success, and can continue to work on it over long periods of time.

Not only is this in the nature of an ongoing business enterprise, but it is also supportive of momentum. A binary goal provides no feedback until action is complete and success or failure can be assessed. A needle-mover provides continuous feedback as you can see, on a periodic basis, how the needle has moved and assess your success or failure throughout the process.

The author suggests setting three levels of outcome for each goal: a target (what you want), a minimum (what is the least you can accept), and a mind-blower (exceeds your wildest expectations). (EN: I would suggest something less than "mind-blowing", particularly if achievement of this figure is tied to a reward system, because goals that are too ambitious are demotivating. This is in addition to - not instead of - the mind-blowing condition.)

(EN: It may also be necessary in some instances to set a maximum level of performance that is not to be exceeded, because more is not always better. For example, if marketing far exceeds its sales goals, the company may not be able to competently fulfill that level of order volume.)

These parameters set the gauges within which the "needle" of present results is contextualized. They should be long-term goals, no less than a year, such that quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily progress can be assessed.

Sidebar: Unclear Expectations

The author takes a moment to discuss the problem of unclear expectations. Where people don't understand what they are expected to achieve, then they don't understand how they can act in order to achieve it.

A leader must not only set goals, but quantify them so that they can be clearly understood. "More sales" is unclear, "A 10% increase over last year's sales" is clear. A breakdown of sales by channel (internet, phone, etc.) is even better.

A leader must also consider the actions that are likely to lead to the successful outcome of the goal, so that the goal is not perceived as being unachievable. Ideally, this includes the participation and consent of the individuals who will be expected to achieve the goals, as commitment requires consent. Your employees may understand what you want, but feel they have made no personal obligation to achieve it.

There's also an aside about the do-defer-delegate-ditch sorting for tasks:

• Do the important things you are capable of doing personally
• Defer the things that are not important that you can do personally
• Delegate the things that are important, but you cannot do personally
• Ditch the things that are unimportant and you cannot do them personally.

(EN: I don't think that's quite right, largely because the "defer" category should likely be ditched - if it's not important, is there really a need to do it later, or a tall? Better to use "defer" for important things that cannot be done right away by anyone, but will need to be done later when they become possible, due to a change in contingencies or conditions.)

It's also important to delegate completely. To give someone a task and walk away, getting periodic status updates but refraining from micromanaging and hounding the people to whom tasks have been handed off.

Track results via weekly reporting

Visibility is key to accountability. For the leader, there is a need to know how things are progressing in advance of the deadline so that he can take action to mitigate before it is too late to make a difference. For the follower, being visible provide social pressure to succeed because failure will be noticed.

The author provides an example of a schedule for goal accomplishment that shows annual goals and monthly targets. She also mentions that the gauges can be adjusted when we recognize that we can progress faster or slower than expected, as well as focusing our efforts on the most important goal, as well as shifting focus when a key metric seems to be lagging.

She then shifts to procedures, which set specific tasks that will be done to accomplish the goal. Of importance: we can hold people accountable for failing to perform tasks, but if they perform the tasks and do not achieve the results we expected, then it is our expectation rather than their performance that is to blame for falling short of the desired goal.

Reward and provide consequences for performance

Incentive plans are often tied to the performance of the corporation, but should also be customized to the team and the individual. There must be a firm connection between action and reward on a granular level if there is to be effective motivation at the granular level.

People feel engaged in their work only if they know what the specific expectations of them are. They will feel excited at the opportunity to gain rewards if they can connect their personal performance to the achievement of a goal that will win them a reward.

Direct cash compensation is a highly effective reward, whether bonus or salary increase, but there can also be non-monetary rewards such as additional vacation time or social recognition. (EN: The author deals with this very superficially, as do many authors. I hope and expect there are other sources that explore the concept of non-monetary rewards more thoroughly.)

Rewards must be applied at various levels. If a company as a whole has a stellar year, there is a company-wide reward for all employees. If a division or group achieves stellar results, it should be rewarded as a group (regardless of how other groups may be doing). The same applies to individuals who excel.

There are also consequences (punishments) that befall those who fail. There are consequences that directly precipitate from failure - if you don't turn in your weekly timesheet, your paycheck will be delayed. Other consequences are artificially added - if you don't turn in a report by deadline, you will be excluded from a reward.

The ultimate consequence is termination of employment, but other consequences may be taking away privileges. Consequences must be simple, straightforward, and understood in advance. To "surprise" an employee with a negative consequence he didn't expect creates a sense of injustice, and righty so, which undermines morale and trust.

(EN: my sense is that failure to gain a reward is likely the fairest form of punishment, an no additional punishment need be added. Punishment should be reserved for instances in which an employee did something that is clearly wrong or negligent, not when they performed to the best of their ability and still failed to achieve results.)

The author suggests that before consequences are applied, you should investigate the reasons for failure: it may have nothing to do with anything that is under the employee's control. Again, if it is found that the results could not be achieved by reasonable effort, the fault lies in the leader who set the expectations, not the employee who failed to achieve them.

Some key questions to ask when an employee is floundering:

• Are you OK? Personal crises can have an impact on our professional performance, and it may be necessary to support an employee or at least revise your expectations of him.
• Do you have too much work? We often give people more than they can handle, and they will struggle to accomplish more than is reasonably possible - and fail in the process. We may need to revisit deadlines and goals or rebalance workloads.
• Do you have the right skills? In some instances, an employee fails because he does not have the skills necessary to succeed, in which case the company must develop the employee or consider reassigning him to a different role in which his skills enable him to succeed.
• Do you really want to work here? In some instances, an employee may not be motivated because a given role does not help him achieve his personal goals. There may be temporary compromises, but the ultimate solution is to help the employee transition into a role that will be more personally fulfilling. (EN: I'd be careful about this - as the question implies a threat.)

If you want to know what a person truly values, look to their behavior more than their words. You can turn this perception inward by looking at your calendar and your credit card statement - where you spend your time and your money demonstrates what you value the most.

How Trust is Broken

Accountability is deeply tied to promises and trust that they will be kept, and trust it is so central to social relationships that significant damage is done to both the maker and keeper of a promise when the ball is dropped.

The author suggests trust is most often broken in three ways:

1. Capability - The person is incapable of fulfilling a promise. They may be motivated and want to deliver upon their promise, but simply unable to do so. Capability breaches are easy to fix, as we can help a person to fulfill their promises by providing them with the things they need to succeed (conditions, resources, training), or withdraw the obligation.
2. Commitment - The person made a promise but does not feel committed to fulfilling it. This is more tricky, because it is an issue with an individual's character: their honesty and integrity. We must identify the reasons a person lacks commitment to achieving the outcomes, which may be a misalignment between personal interests and their role.
3. Character - A person who repeatedly makes and breaks promises may have character issues, particularly when no functional impediments can be defined for the reason a promise was broken. Breaches of this type are the worst, because it deals with a person's ethics, which are difficult to address. A person who lacks honesty and integrity cannot be counted upon to do anything, and a promise to keep promises in future is worthless when it comes from a promise-breaker.

(EN: Interestingly, this author does not advocate for immediate termination of employees with character issues, but instead for constant monitoring and counseling to shift them to keeping commitments. That seems easier said than done, but is likely an important process, particularly for new employees who are college hires and may never have been held accountable.)

There are some management behaviors that can undermine accountability. For example, if you openly disparage someone's competence, it triggers their ego. Condescending to someone is the equivalent of disparaging their competence. In either case, they take it as a person attack and retaliate - but more importantly, it damages their respect for the leader and the organization. We do not respect those who show no respect for us.