When accountability goes wrong

Accountability is a fanciful word that has been used widely in many fields lately.

From business management and politics, to personal relations and social sciences, accountability has emerged as a high-profile concept with a strong meaning that is hard, if not impossible, to argue against.

Everyone agrees that accountability is a good thing both in personal and professional life, as it pairs very well with other “good” words, such as transparency, sincerity, etc.

There is a big question, however, that arises, and refers to how much accountability we are prepared to accept and feel happy with.

For example, people like it when other people are held accountable to them, but not the other way round.

Therefore, it’s OK if I am in a senior management position and my subordinates are accountable to me.

On the other hand, my enthusiasm for accountability seems to wane when I have to report to my superiors.

There are similar examples in personal life, as well, when a husband or wife wants to know the exact whereabouts of their other half on a 24-hour basis.

However, when this same person, who demands a full report from another person, is asked about his or her own affairs, he or she refuses to answer any such question and even feels insulted!

Thus, accountability looks like a double-edged sword, which means that it can be a good and a bad thing, at the same time, depending on whether other people are accountable to you, or you are accountable to other people.

Another important point that should be stressed with regard to accountability is that it requires from all the persons who are involved in this process, to have the same level of experience, knowledge, skills, expertise, etc.

When someone is accountable to a person of inferior or irrelevant knowledge, experience, or skill, how would it be possible for the accountability process to be performed in a smooth and effective way?

It is obvious that this situation would lead to poor and problematic communication, which would finally result in accountability failure.

The same would also be true in the other way round, i.e. when a person in a senior position is in fact more knowledgeable and experienced than a person who ranks lower in hierarchy.

In this case, as well, a communication gap would exist again, making accountability superficial and of no real effect and use, in the end.

This article was originally published by me on Medium.com
You can read it here.