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Moving from Blame to Accountability (2017)

thesystemsthinker.com

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Re: Moving from Blame to Accountability (2017)

#31

Post by nimbius »

outlace wrote: post #2

This is focused on organizations but I will emphasize how moving from blame to accountability (or ownership) is a transformative stance for ourselves as individuals (as described in Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink). We often try to protect our egos by shifting blame, making excuses or just avoiding challenges altogether because blame and failure are such a negative experience. But instead of self-blame if you inst…

I think the takeaway consideration is to select products services and solutions that aren't predicated on an assignment of blame or responsibility, but based on your own accountable understanding of risk as it applies to business and processes.

Far too often are we outsourcing in order to avoid the difficult and often times very wholistic concern of risk and outcome. Blame serves no shareholder value but to abdicate leadership from their post.

Re: Moving from Blame to Accountability (2017)

#32

Post by landemva »

FooBarBizBazz wrote: post #5
outlace wrote: post #2

This is focused on organizations but I will emphasize how moving from blame to accountability (or ownership) is a transformative stance for ourselves as individuals (as described in Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink). We often try to protect our egos by shifting blame, making excuses or just avoiding challenges altogether because blame and failure are such a negative experience. But instead of self-blame if you inst…

Ultimately, if you are "accountable" for everything in the world, then what you must do is establish control over everything in the world. Anything that cannot be controlled must be shackled and harnessed. Any independent behaviors by others must be extinguished; they must be turned into compliant automatons to be pushed this way or that by force. Nature also must be eliminated. It is illegible; you cannot understand…

> Anyone who isn't you must be in chains.

You speak for yourself, not for me.

Those different than me often contribute in ways I did not see. Life is better when I embrace improvement.

Re: Moving from Blame to Accountability (2017)

#33

Post by kubanczyk »

leobg wrote: post #20

I find out interesting how the word responsibility is rooted in “to respond”. Responsible is not the person who is to be punished for what happened, but who is able to respond to it, i.e. make the best out of it. This etymology also works in other languages - for instance, in German: “Ver-Antwort-ung”.

That's a generous interpretation. My take is that that person must respond to grievances in all sorts of ways, and if nothing can be repaired at least make the situation bearable by lowering their own status.

Re: Moving from Blame to Accountability (2017)

#34

Post by 123pie123 »

outlace wrote: post #2

This is focused on organizations but I will emphasize how moving from blame to accountability (or ownership) is a transformative stance for ourselves as individuals (as described in Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink). We often try to protect our egos by shifting blame, making excuses or just avoiding challenges altogether because blame and failure are such a negative experience. But instead of self-blame if you inst…

I'm accountable or 'own' my designs end to end. which means I want and need to help the people or experts who should know their job (who sometimes give BS)

Yes I write highlevel risks about the information I'm given could be wrong (to cover my backside) but you have to be thorough. Its makes you a better technical person or a better engineer. where by you dissect and rebuild information given to check it's right and to spot inconsistanses.

It's like solving a puzzle, but like a good puzzle it can be sometimes tedious, slow and time consuming. but when you find issues that could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds/ dollars through mistakes it really makes up for it.

Re: Moving from Blame to Accountability (2017)

#35

Post by austin-cheney »

outlace wrote: post #2

This is focused on organizations but I will emphasize how moving from blame to accountability (or ownership) is a transformative stance for ourselves as individuals (as described in Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink). We often try to protect our egos by shifting blame, making excuses or just avoiding challenges altogether because blame and failure are such a negative experience. But instead of self-blame if you inst…

I can speak to this. In one life I am a part time military officer with 5 deployments to the Middle East. At the exact same time I am a corporate software developer for my primary career. The greatest difference between these worlds is:

Leadership

Ownership is certainly a primary part of that, but there is more to this than what most people from the corporate world can envision unless if you have been at a director level (or higher) in a company that is more than a start up.

Ownership directly implies liability. If you fail wrongly this can mean losing your job, permanently losing your career, losing personal money, or even going to prison depending upon the context. Many professions have that, but software does not. In fact software directly stresses the opposite of this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35889282

Leadership means to own risks and liability, but it also means owning the welfare of the people that work for you. Another primary part of leadership, equivalent to ownership, is communication. Good communication comprises the ability to provide specific instructions to subordinates so that they never must ask for clarity, as though you are using empathy to read their minds. Simultaneously it also means the ability to persuade peers and superiors to change position on an opinion beneficial to your team/mission. If you are good at this it will appear almost invisible to your staff and exceedingly self-sacrificing to your superiors.

Re: Moving from Blame to Accountability (2017)

#37

Post by atoav »

yobbo wrote: post #15

Article is trying to support a normative argument, which is fair and seems correct, with minutia in word definitions and different levels politeness. Accountability is synonymous with responsibility. Identifying who is responsible for a failure is synonymous with blaming. We prefer to use "hold accountable" in formal and polite settings, and "blame" in informal settings, but it has the same meaning. Using the correct…

It is crucial to not forget that sometimes theblame is in the system itself.

If you e.g. push your employees over the limits and tell them to ignore all kinds of reasonable safeguards and regulations. And then, one day, after a ton of near misses Joe slips and falls into the meatgrinder, it would be very easy to blame Joe for skipping the safeguards.

But the true reason for the accident was the environment and culture Joe had to work in and it might have also hit a random different person.

Re: Moving from Blame to Accountability (2017)

#38

Post by joe_the_user »

yobbo wrote: post #15

Article is trying to support a normative argument, which is fair and seems correct, with minutia in word definitions and different levels politeness. Accountability is synonymous with responsibility. Identifying who is responsible for a failure is synonymous with blaming. We prefer to use "hold accountable" in formal and polite settings, and "blame" in informal settings, but it has the same meaning. Using the correct…

One factor with informal blaming is it makes it easier for it to be done to whoever has less power or whoever is less popular, etc. And this naturally leads to people just acting defensively rather than making an effort to avoid a given problem. At worst, people can incentivized to make other people screw-up, 'cause when other people are being blamed for X, you can't be blamed for Y.

A formal blaming process means that the question of who to blame is decided objectively and people have more of an incentive actually act correctly.

And as others mention, blaming the process itself is reasonable.

And you're right that the article itself only presents accountability as essentially greater politeness.

Re: Moving from Blame to Accountability (2017)

#39

Post by joe_the_user »

atoav wrote: post #37
yobbo wrote: post #15

Article is trying to support a normative argument, which is fair and seems correct, with minutia in word definitions and different levels politeness. Accountability is synonymous with responsibility. Identifying who is responsible for a failure is synonymous with blaming. We prefer to use "hold accountable" in formal and polite settings, and "blame" in informal settings, but it has the same meaning. Using the correct…

It is crucial to not forget that sometimes theblame is in the system itself. If you e.g. push your employees over the limits and tell them to ignore all kinds of reasonable safeguards and regulations. And then, one day, after a ton of near misses Joe slips and falls into the meatgrinder, it would be very easy to blame Joe for skipping the safeguards. But the true reason for the accident was the environment and cultur…

Absolutely,

The most evil variation of this is "we'd rather have the increased productivity than spend the resources to actually avoid X so our guidelines say they're to avoid X but really they're to blame a line worker when X happens so we can keep saying we don't want X". See the rash of train derailments and toxic spills we're lately now that railroads have imposed "precision railroading/precision crew scheduling".

Re: Moving from Blame to Accountability (2017)

#40

Post by whitemary »

atoav wrote: post #37
yobbo wrote: post #15

Article is trying to support a normative argument, which is fair and seems correct, with minutia in word definitions and different levels politeness. Accountability is synonymous with responsibility. Identifying who is responsible for a failure is synonymous with blaming. We prefer to use "hold accountable" in formal and polite settings, and "blame" in informal settings, but it has the same meaning. Using the correct…

It is crucial to not forget that sometimes theblame is in the system itself. If you e.g. push your employees over the limits and tell them to ignore all kinds of reasonable safeguards and regulations. And then, one day, after a ton of near misses Joe slips and falls into the meatgrinder, it would be very easy to blame Joe for skipping the safeguards. But the true reason for the accident was the environment and cultur…

Are you joking? In your example, the responsible party is the boss, not "environment and culture."
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