As individuals and organizations transition to a New Normal, many of us are wondering what our culture will be or what it should be.
Effective decision making is core for every organization. Throughout their careers people have a variety of experiences in making decisions. I’d like to highlight “accountability” as a cultural theme to surround your decision making.
When things aren’t going well at work there is a tendency for people to personalize their anxiety and frustration and create “villains” and “victims.”
The illustration above shows the difference between an organizational culture characterized by accountability, versus one characterized by a victim mentality.
This is an important distinction and it’s not simply dictated by the personalities of the people involved. Effective organizations demand that employees focus on solutions, not blame, on raising red flags and then helping to reengineer processes that aren’t working.
If employees feel empowered to make decisions and are supported when they report issues and try to solve a problem, you get an “accountability culture.”
- Does your organization encourage people to take responsibility when there are problems, and to search for solutions, rather than assigning blame?
- Can you think of ways that could help you to increase your own accountability, and to “get on with it”?