Creating Accountability

Through the Power of Conversation

Jamey Wheeler, CSP

Objectives

• Understand some behavioral concepts• Understand barriers to communication• Overcoming barriers to enhance

accountability• Incorporating conversation into the system to

build accountability

Organizational Decision Making

• Polarity Principle • Drift• Hindsight Bias• Relationships and Relational Correlation

Polarity

• Two apparently conflicting goals that are both necessary for success- people or profit

• Need to dissipate polarity • Replace either/or with both/and thinking

Polarity Principle“The idea that setting absolutist and

perfectionist goals followed by punitive measures to achieve those goals is a bankrupt

model for motivation of risk and safety ownership. The model ignores hidden pressures

that drive under reporting, totally misunderstands the nature of learning and

believes that only hedonic principle (carrot and stick) drives human relationship.”

– Rob Long, PhD

Drift

• Build sensitivity to weak signals• Allow timely corrective actions• Conversations address the successes,

failures, outcomes, potential outcomes and how to best bridge the gaps.

Hindsight

20/20

Meet Kenny Cypress

The Blame CycleHuman

Error

Counsel / Discipline

Reduced Trust

Less Communication

Mgmt Less Aware of Jobsite

Conditions

Latent Organizational

Weakness Persists

More Flawed Defenses

Relational Correlation

• Relationships drive behavior• Improve performance by strengthening leader

and follower relationships• Policies, procedures, and standards are

irrelevant if they are static

SCARF Model

• Status• Certainty• Autonomy• Relatedness• Fairness

Leaders Create or Undermine: • What they pay attention to, measure, and

control; • Their reactions to incidents; • Their allocation of resources; • Their criteria for reward and punishment; and• Their deliberate attempts to coach and model

behaviors“Any time significant change comes up against

significant culture – culture always wins.” – Dr. Edgar Schein

Communication Barriers

• Mistakes seen as failures• Mgr/supervisors seen as experts• Illusion of control• Silos and suppressed collaboration• Fear of giving/receiving feedback

Accountability

• Allow for learning; • Focus on understanding; • Establish clear, consistent, and manageable

expectations; • Communicate clearly and effectively; • Ensure individuals understand and have what they

need to fulfill expectations; • Leaders continually reinforce and clarify expectations; • Systems support expectations without conflict or

barriers.

HIGH ACCOUNTABILITY = LEADER’S CLEAR EXPECTATIONS +

OWNER’S AGREEMENT + PERSONAL REWARDS OR CONSEQUENCES

Changing Conversations

• Organizationally recognize and name polarities• Remain consciously aware of the impact of all

interactions• Provide resources for natural conversation• Explicitly deal with conflict• Remain open to new or contradictory information• Do not mistake meetings, emails or announcements

with conversation• Humble Inquiry and Seek to Understand• Cross-functional Trust

Cycle of Mistrust

US

THEM

1. Negative Action Observed

2. Negative Assumption Formed

3. Protective Action Taken

4. Negative Action Observed

5. Negative Assumption Formed

6. Protective Action Taken

7. Mistrust reinforces negative assumptions

Communication Training

Workers

Supervisors

Managers

Ask for what you need to hear, not what you want to

hear

Tell your boss what they need to hear, not what you think they want to

hear

“We must stop all this communication and start having conversation.” – Mark Twain

Thank You!

• Accountability can only be achieved with clearly outlined expectations

• Train supervisors in soft skills allowing them to better understand how to converse with their staff

• Encourage MBWA