Rethinking Accountability – Because the Hog Won’t Butcher Himself

By Michelle Malay Carter on October 23, 2007 

Unaccountable hogThe?Nobel prize in economics was just awarded to a team that developed Mechanism Design, i.e. a design for arranging economic interactions so that when everyone behaves in a self-interested manner, the result is something we all like.? This includes the idea of Incentive Compatibility, i.e. the concept that way to get as close as possible to the most efficient economic outcome is to design mechanisms in which everybody does best for themselves by sharing truthfully whatever private information they have.?

I believe Dr. Elliott Jaques? ideas behind accountability and authority within Requisite Organization capture these essential elements within the world of managerial hierarchies.

The Hog Won’t Butcher Himself
I?ve had the pleasure of attending two conferences with Stephen Clement, author of Executive Leadership, a forerunning book to Requisite Organization.? He is a witty, no-nonsense, retired US Army Colonel and management consultant.? Whenever he makes a presentation, you can be sure you?ll hear the phrase, ?The hog won?t butcher himself.?

Demanding employees be accountable for their own output is a little like asking the hog to butcher itself.? If?things aren’t going?well, even due to circumstances out of my control, I might be tempted to lie and/or deny rather than disclose. ?This is the way of most organizations, and pay for performance systems exacerbate this issue.

An Alternate Way of Viewing Accountability
What if employees were not accountable for their output but rather to give their full effort, to give their best advice to their managers, and to stay within policy?? What if accountability for employee output rested with the manager?? And managers were accountable to listen to their employees’?advice, but because the managers were accountable for the output of their employees, they had the ultimate authority to decide whether to follow it our not.

Aligning Accountability and Self-interest
When managers become accountable for the output of their employees, it is in the managers’ self interest to hire well, provide context, give feedback, and ensure employees have resources to get the job done.?

When employees know they will be judged on their effectiveness, not just their numbers, and they will have an opportunity to account for their decisions, it is in the employees’ self interest to seek their manager?s counsel, speak up when they believe something won?t work, give warning when they see a train wreck coming, to ask for the resources necessary to get things done, to collaborate with teammates, and to keep their manager informed about changes in circumstances.

Jaques named his mangerial leadership model Requisite Organization which is about as marketing savvy as the name Mechanism Design.? Name aside, if you want accountability,?you’ll need to?take it off the backs of the employees and assign it with an eye toward?everyone?s self interest.? Maybe more people would be familiar with Jaques?if he had?named his book, Who Moved My Accountability?? Unfortunately, that ship has sailed.

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization, Talent Management

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