Nowadays work and organizing (managing) are inseparable. People organize as they work and vice versa. Everyone does both and they have to interact - face-to-face, on the phone, or by email - to share information, clarify complex issues, and solve tough problems. People plan, make decisions, and take action by talking. They cannot do their work without conversations. Moreover, because of the sort of work they do, they need to have good conversations. Good conversations depend on people aligning. When they align, people talk to one another openly and frankly. They need to do that to tackle the tough issues that divide them or to generate new possibilities by considering options that, for some, are unsound or just unacceptable.
People are open to discussing their work, goals, challenges, and listening to new ideas when they are accountable to each other, when they have real commitments to one another, and when each is responsible for what he or she does. Compliance robs people of accountability and responsibility. Compliance also takes away their authority to speak and gives it to their superiors. When organizations shift from compliance to accountability, however, both those obstacles are removed. When people are accountable, leaders can show up differently, as stewards, not controllers, and everyone has the personal power that comes with accountability, thus the motivation both to be involved and to hold others accountable for what they do.
Accountability is all about relationships. People build accountability as they do trust and commitment, conversation by conversation: by talking about different possibilities they see; challenging one another about what is 'right', 'justifiable', or 'effective'; looking for common ground in the things they want to accomplish; or debating what went wrong and why. Through our work, we've identified ten conversations that support aligning; ten conversations for building relationships and accountability, and for enabling people to share knowledge. They are shown in Figure 3. |
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Accountability Through Conversations