We may have it wrong: rethinking accountability

One of the biggest complaints I hear in my work as a leadership team coach is: “there’s a lack of accountability and ownership here”.

Culturally speaking, I’m wondering if we Brits have got that all wrong.

I’ll explain why.

This is a true story

A while back I was working with a project leadership team comprising senior managers from two companies – one British and one Danish.                                                                      

Early on, there was talk of the cultural differences between the Brits and the Danes although, when I asked for specific examples, the responses were vague.

Because my coaching wasn’t working, I asked to meet with the directors of the respective companies, who were not on site, to get a view from the outside.

The Danish managing director, Lucas, asked what I was doing with the team, so I explained.

When we got to the part about the Team Action Plan, with its focus on accountability and by-when dates, he jumped on the word “accountability”, saying there was no equivalent word in Danish.

I was astonished. “How do you get things done?” I said.

Shared ownership versus individual accountability

Lucas said that in Denmark, people get round the table and talk things through until everyone knows what they have to do, and then they go off and do it.

He said the focus was on shared ownership rather than on individual accountability.

He then asked me if any of his people had put their name against any of the actions yet.

“As a matter of fact, they haven’t,” I said, “which is kind of why I’m here.”

“No, they wouldn’t,” he said. “It goes against the grain.”

Ah, I thought. That explains a lot. I had stumbled on the answer, or at least an understanding, of the issue between our cultures. I then asked Lucas if I could share this realisation back at site.

Lucas said, “Yes, Dave, you have to. It’s important. As we get more business in the UK, we have to change our way of working and you explaining this difference to my people will help.”

When in Rome, do as the Romans do

Leaving the meeting with Lucas, I was pleased I had cracked the code.

All I had to do was to explain to the Brits and Danes on site that there is no equivalent word for accountability in Denmark.

And that Lucas wants to address that and move his people to the British way of working.

Easy, I thought, the Brits would understand what had been going on and the Danes would adjust – ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans’.

The Brits were gobsmacked. One declared, “well that explains everything!”.

The Danes, however, were less impressed with my finding. One explained: “Dave there is another cultural difference, you British are hierarchical, you do as the boss says. In Denmark we are different, we work things out together. If Lucas tried to tell us what to do, we wouldn’t do it, that is not how we work.”

When responsibility is missing

Soon after, my coaching was stopped. I’m told things carried on mostly as before, two distinctly different ways of working and the same tensions. So much for me cracking the code.

Reading the other day, I came across a quote that brought it all back, the Danes and the Brits, and our different ways of working, here it is:

“There’s no word for accountability in Finnish. Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted.” That was Pasi Sahlberg, the Finnish educator.

What if we Brits have got it all wrong?

The story we tell ourselves goes something like this: first we will work out what’s broken then we will make someone accountable for fixing it. That person will then work out and organise whatever needs happen to sort the issue and she will somehow mobilise people and resources.

We are counting on her, she is accountable. Sorted! Or so we tell ourselves.

Now that everything is different, try this

So now, when yet another person says, “there is a lack of accountability and ownership here”, I can’t help but think that our notion of accountability isn’t fit for purpose.

It allows real responsibility to be subtracted.

Maybe the Danish and Finnish way is something we Brits need to reflect on.

And in this Age of Coronavirus, it’s so much easier with Zoom to get people together and talk things through to the point where everyone knows what they have to do, so that they go off and do it with a sense of shared responsibility and collective ownership.

How about we kick away the “accountability crutch”, because it seems like it’s not working anyway!