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People misuse the concept of Accountability in two ways.
One way is by using it to find someone to blame when a mistake
surfaces. This is actually the opposite of what Accountability
stands for. We don’t improve through being blamed. We
do improve through being supported in accepting higher levels
of Accountability for achieving excellence. This leads to
the second misuse of Accountability—confusing it with
perfection.
Accountability is a human process for achieving excellence,
defined by our desired outcomes and goals in all aspects of
our lives. It is an action-oriented progression involving
learning and application as we zero in on our targets. The
target continually moves, since after we achieve one goal
we move on to the next higher level of excellence. Thus, Accountability
is in fact a Movement.
Below are several reasons why perfection doesn’t play
a role in the Accountability Movement:
1. People are human beings, and human beings are perfect
in their imperfection. We will make mistakes and we aren’t
able to predict future events with certainty. Expecting perfection
isn’t being Accountable for reality. People who are Accountable
focus on developing recovery plans in order to be able to
respond when the unexpected surfaces. Baseball teams practice
recovery plans when someone gets on base or when someone drops
the ball. Theatrical groups rehearse how they will respond
when a prop breaks or when someone forgets his or her lines.
Picasso once said that his greatest works of art came from
a mistake that he was able to use to create something greater
than what he had imagined.
2. Perfection is a static state. Excellence is a constantly
moving target. What might be perceived as perfection at one
point in time would be considered less than perfect at another
point in time. How many times have you seen someone get straight
A’s! in high school and assume they are the best and
stop their growth . . . only to find that they fail college?
Instead of focusing on achieving perfect scores, the Accountable
person is more focused on breaking current standards of excellence,
whatever the score happens to be.
3. The desire for perfection most often results in paralysis.
We wait until we have the perfect plan. Then, we wait until
we communicate it perfectly. Then, we wait until everyone
accepts the change. Then, we wait until everyone is ready
to make the change. By the time we get to this point, either
people are frustrated by the lack of movement or the situation
has changed and we have to start all over again. I remember
in high school, waiting for the perfect moment to ask a girl
out on a date. I never found the perfect moment and when I
thought it was perfect, the girl I asked out already had a
date. She wondered why I didn’t ask her sooner. Instead
of waiting for all of the circumstances and conditions to
be perfect, we plan enough to have clarity of direction a!
nd purpose. We plan enough to be clear with the actions we
plan to take. And we create recovery plans to address the
breakdowns that could take place so that we can respond without
giving up excellence.
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