The Ripple of Accountability

A culture of accountability is created, one ripple at a time. Like a ripple in water, it begins with the individual, a small splash which then builds momentum through shared team effort and ultimately influences the collective system, the whole organisation.

To create a culture of accountability, you need the following three elements:

• Individual accountability – the psychological ownership of your individual performance and behaviours to deliver on an outcome.

• Shared accountability – shared goals and outcomes between people within teams.

• Collective accountability – systemic between teams and stakeholders within an organisation.

This may feel idealistic, however, it is required for a culture of accountability. Extensive studies have looked at these three constructs of accountability separately. I believe it is the combination of these that creates a culture of accountability. How they interrelate influences how teams and organisations perform, the level of psychological safety, the learning culture and outcomes.

When an organisation has a culture of accountability, individuals and teams understand what is expected of each other. There is strong psychological safety, and this leads to improved performance, trust, transparency and problem solving. Creating an accountability culture is an ongoing process that requires commitment and effort.

To create a culture of accountability, it requires this ripple effect between individual, shared and collective accountability. Moving from ‘I’, to ‘we’, to ‘us’.

Individual

Individual accountability is at the centre of the ripple; without it, nothing happens. When we are individually accountable, we take ownership and personal responsibility. The word ‘take’ is important; we don’t feel like it has been forced upon us, we are choosing to take it on. This subtle difference empowers individuals and helps to shift it into a privilege and power.

When talking about this with David Clutterbuck he suggested rebranding accountability to ownership. Amy Edmondson suggested that it is about psychological ownership that one has.

To build on this, it is the psychological ownership of your performance and behaviours to deliver an outcome. When we are accountable, we feel empowered to take action and follow through. We understand what is expected of us, or if we don’t, we clarify expectations. We learn from our mistakes and are open to taking on feedback to improve and achieve the outcome. Individually, we need agency. Agency to be autonomous, set goals for ourselves and articulate where we will focus.

Leaders must role model individual accountability. Your team will notice when you don’t follow through on your commitments. Acknowledge when you make mistakes or haven’t upheld the commitments you have set. Be clear about when and how you will achieve what was agreed.

There may seem to be a reluctance for people to be accountable. They are already busy, so they may not want the additional pressure to take on more. They also may fear making a mistake and want to focus on things they know they can achieve to save face. We want to be viewed as competent and doing a good job, so at times people may hide when they haven’t followed through on expectations.

If you are individually accountable, you are clear on what you have committed to so you can focus on your goals.

Shared Accountability

From the first splash, or individual accountability, the ripple moves between people. Shared accountability is how we hold each other accountable within a team for achieving shared goals, performance standards and outcomes. It requires trust between individuals and psychological safety within the team to raise concerns when someone hasn’t followed through on their commitments for the greater good of the team. This is very hard to do if there aren’t strong relationships and we are not clear on the shared goals, if there is an unclear direction and the team’s work is not visible.

When there is a lack of accountability within a team, it can cause people to pursue their own agendas, look after their own ‘patch’, and let egos come into play, or lead to some workplace politics. People hold back, go quiet and start focusing on themselves for self-preservation. There are no consequences when people don’t follow through on their commitments. It becomes either a taboo subject, or people become nice and don’t acknowledge the repeated behaviour of a team member not picking up their slack. Even worse, things build up and then when someone does try to address the lack of follow through, they explode.

In Project Aristotle, they discovered that ‘dependability’ was the second most important factor in determining team effectiveness. This is why having psychological safety and accountability within a team are two of the most important factors contributing to a team’s effectiveness. They are intrinsically linked. If team members don’t feel safe, they won’t take ownership. They will put their head down and deliver in their patch, self-protect by staying in their own lane. This often feels like the team is operating in silos and not as a team. When people are afraid of failing or making mistakes, they tend to deflect, avoid, or hide. It takes vulnerability to put your hand up and say, “I stuffed up.” But most people want to be seen as competent and capable. So, when things go pear-shaped, they hide it.

Collective Accountability

Collective accountability is when each person in an organisation has a one team mindset. They make decisions for the greater good of the organisation rather than for themselves as an individual or a team. It’s no longer about putting your head down and delivering only what you need to individually deliver or your team’s deliverables. It becomes about the shared outcomes for the organisation. Collective accountability is system-wide ownership across teams, functions and stakeholders.

In organisations where there isn’t collective accountability, teams work in isolation, like islands doing their own thing, further driving silos. There is finger-pointing and blame cultures, and this flows then into individuals and teams not taking accountability, as the focus is on ‘us’ and ‘them’. Collective accountability drives engagement, leadership and team alignment, and builds relationships through collaboration, trust and transparency. Research from the International Journal of Conflict Management found that collective accountability drives diverse perspectives, reduces groupthink and promotes shared responsibility.

Collective accountability requires unity. A shared identity and intention which is anchored in core values and the culture within the organisation. It requires knowledge sharing, collaboration and sharing problems. The challenge is often competing priorities, role clarity and communication breakdowns.

The ripple of accountability, just like with any ripple, starts at the centre, with an individual. This requires us to look in the mirror at the psychological ownership, commitments and responsibility we take on to follow through. Shared accountability happens between peers within a team. It requires shared goals, psychological safety and transparency of work. This way we can hold each other accountable. Collective accountability is systemic and cultural. It’s the way we align, collaborate and deliver together. The ripple of accountability starts with “I”, grows through the team to “we” and flows through the system to “us”.

P.S. If you’d like to create an accountability culture within your organisation, here are some ways we can work together: 

1. Workshops for your whole team on individual accountability.  

2. Leadership development training focused on holding others accountable and creating a culture of accountability. 

3. Keynote on the Art of Accountability. 

4. Read Thriving Leaders: Learn the Skills to Lead Confidently, you can purchase it here. 

If you’d like to chat, please book some time in my calendar.