During Whitewater, as a direct result of the loss of vision and alignment discussed above, employees often develop a diminished sense of ownership of, and accountability for, their activities, leaving them defensive and in CYA [‘cover-your-a**’] mode.
In Whitewater, this isn’t surprising, given the turmoil that the organization is going through: the lack of clarity; the loss of a sense of purpose, and the confusion of roles and relationships.
To get to Predictable Success®, we use the Key Factor 3 (cross-functional teams), and Key Factor 4 (the re-alignment of purpose), to generate Key Factor 6: peer accountability and a sense of ownership.
By peer accountability, I mean that instead of management constantly having to oversee activities to ensure they are followed through and completed, the organization in Predictable Success® has built-in accountability and ownership, supported (of course) by managers, but largely implemented in the cross-functional teams.
