Thursday, December 30
Rule 15. You are accountable. Period.
More from the cutting room floor of my FAST COMPANY presentation:
Rule 15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the thin red line that separates what you are willing to do from what you are not.
Another way to put this is simply: Accountability is in. Accountability is different than responsibility.
The bad news: you are accountable for a lot more than you are responsible for.
The easiest examples come from the world of corporate scandals. If you’re the CEO of a large organization and corruption is discovered within the company, you might not be directly responsible (i.e. you didn’t do it - really). But you’re still accountable. The buck stops with you. That’s not to say that you have to take the fall if you truly did nothing wrong; but it is to say that you have to make it right.
And even when you are not the boss (perhaps specifically when you are not the boss), you are accountable for what you are willing to do.
You are accountable for what you are not willing to do.
You are accountable for what you ask others to do.
You are accountable for what you require others to do.
You are accountable for what you forbid others to do.
You are accountable for what goes on without your permission.
You are accountable for what goes on without your knowledge.
No matter how you slice it, you are accountable.
I run into this misunderstanding all the time with my entrepreneur clients as well as within large organizations. I call this the “But alas!” Syndrome.
Rule 15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the thin red line that separates what you are willing to do from what you are not.
Another way to put this is simply: Accountability is in. Accountability is different than responsibility.
The bad news: you are accountable for a lot more than you are responsible for.
The easiest examples come from the world of corporate scandals. If you’re the CEO of a large organization and corruption is discovered within the company, you might not be directly responsible (i.e. you didn’t do it - really). But you’re still accountable. The buck stops with you. That’s not to say that you have to take the fall if you truly did nothing wrong; but it is to say that you have to make it right.
And even when you are not the boss (perhaps specifically when you are not the boss), you are accountable for what you are willing to do.
You are accountable for what you are not willing to do.
You are accountable for what you ask others to do.
You are accountable for what you require others to do.
You are accountable for what you forbid others to do.
You are accountable for what goes on without your permission.
You are accountable for what goes on without your knowledge.
No matter how you slice it, you are accountable.
I run into this misunderstanding all the time with my entrepreneur clients as well as within large organizations. I call this the “But alas!” Syndrome.
- Somehow she thought that publisher would promote her new business book properly, but Alas!
- Somehow he thought that Venture Capitalist would be less of a jerk about the start-up’s cash flow, but Alas!
- Somehow she thought the VP would support her new marketing initiative, but Alas!
