The centrality of ownership and self-accountability 

If you have read my book Predictable Success, you’ll know that ownership and self-accountability is at the very heart of sustained success within an organization.

So much so that it's literally at the core of the thirteen key Imperatives every organization needs to master in order to get to, and stay in, the Predictable Success growth stage.

Here’s the graphic I use in the book to illustrate this:

There are three main reason why Ownership & Self-Accountability is so central:

1. It turns static systems and processes into a dynamic organism

Employees without a strong sense of ownership and self-accountability interact only one way with systems and processes – they accept the systems and processes that are provided to them and implement those that cause the least disruption to their personal comfort zone.

They have little incentive or desire to truly understand what the systems and processes are trying to achieve and improve on that process.

Employees with a strong sense of ownership and self-accountability interact fluidly and dynamically with otherwise static systems and processes (specifically the 13 systems and processes in the graphic, which are those that deliver and maintain Predictable Success) creatively improving and enhancing them, within risk-management guidelines.

2. It makes the organization proactive

A sense of ownership and self-accountability is what makes an employee anticipate customer needs (internally and externally) and seek to meet them.

Organizations without a strong sense of ownership and self-accountability fail to anticipate (read: end up not caring about) customer needs - and as that applies to both external and internal customers, it's only a matter of time before any organization with low levels of ownership and self-accountability slides into stasis - simply doing the least necessary to 'get along'.

3. It destroys ‘no-mans-land’

The footprint of responsibility for employees and employee groups with a high sense of ownership and self-accountability is bigger, and with fuzzier edges, than that of an employee or employee group with a low sense of ownership and self-accountability. 

Put another way, high levels of  ownership and self-accountability dramatically expand what Stephen Covey calls an individual's 'Circle of Control', and even more powerfully, their 'Circle of Influence'

Multiplying this effect across an entire team means there is a higher overlap of shared responsibility, and fewer things fall between stools – into a ‘no-mans’ land’ where no-one is taking responsibility for errors, mistakes and screw-ups.

In the next post,  I’ll show the easiest route to assessing the level of ownership and self-accountability in your organization, but in the meantime...

What about you? How deep and wide do you believe ownership and self-accountability is in your organization?

  Let Me Know In The Comments Below!