We dedicate this book to
THE WORLD’S BEST LEADERS
Those managers, supervisors, associates,
team members, parents, colleagues, and
technicians who have routinely
stepped up to tough (even hostile)
problems and skillfully held
others accountable.
Thank you for your examples.
Thank you for helping us learn.
Foreword
As I read this book, my mind kept reverting to a particular image. Namely, J. D. Watson and Francis Crick as they relentlessly pursued the mystery of life … and finally struck upon the double-helix structure of DNA. The world has never been the same. Next stop … Stockholm in December.
I don’t know whether the authors of this book will get the call that confirms a Nobel, but there’s a part of me that thinks it’s their just deserts for this magnificent and groundbreaking masterwork.
An absurd claim?
I think not.
War and peace, wellness and extreme physical and mental malaise, marriage and divorce, abject failure and Olympian success … all these profound subjects at their core depend upon functioning — or malfunctioning — human relationships. Dyads: a couple. Little organizations: a 20-table restaurant or 20-person finance department. Giant organizations … an army or a Fortune 50 corporation. Nations on the brink of war and genocide.
Enter our new Watson and Crick and the essential element of the organizational DNA: the DNA of effective accountability discussions.
Some renowned management experts have made careers out of their belief, “Get the strategy right … and the rest will take care of itself.” Others have said, “Strategy, smattergy … it’s the core business processes that explain the divergence between winners and losers.” And then there are those that claim that leader selection has no peer in explaining various degrees of organizational effectiveness.
Doubtless there is truth in all the above. (I’ve held various of these positions over the years … each passionately.) But then again, perhaps all such “magisterial” concepts aimed at explaining differences in organizational outcomes miss the boat. Perhaps the idea of organizational DNA that makes for stellar outcomes is Absent Without Leave.
Until now.
Yes, I’m that bullish on Crucial Accountability. (Perhaps because I’ve seen so many of my own brilliant strategies evaporate in the space of minutes — seconds — as I screwed up an accountability discussion with a peer or key employee. Again … and again.)
So why did we have to wait until this moment for this book? Perhaps it’s the times. We used to live in a more tolerant world. Buildups to war could last decades. Smoldering corporate ineffectiveness could take eons to burst into flame. Lousy marriages festered for years and then more years.
No more. The marketplace is unforgiving. One strike — whether new-product foul-up or terrorist with dirty bomb — and you’re (we’re!) out. Thus continual organizational effectiveness — which is, after all, nothing more than human-relations effectiveness — is of the utmost urgency, from CIA headquarters to Walmart headquarters.
Crucial Accountability is an original and a bold leap forward. No doubt at all. But like all good science, it is built on a rock-solid base of what has come before. The neat trick here is imaginatively applying the best of psychological and social-psychological research over the last half century to this very particular, precisely defined topic … crucial accountability — on topics such as performance and trust — that promote or destroy relational or organizational effectiveness.
The basic hypothesis is profound. The application of proven research is masterful. The explanations and supporting stories are compelling and lucid. The translation of the research and stories into practical ideas and sound advice that can be implemented by those of us who have floundered on these paths for decades is nothing short of breathtaking.
Hey, if you read only one “management” book … this decade … I’d insist that it be Crucial Accountability.
Tom Peters
Lenox, MA
Preface:
A Note to Our Readers
This book is a companion to Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. Those who have read this offering or heard about it or bought the action figures are sure to wonder, “What’s the difference between crucial conversations and crucial accountability?” We’re glad you asked.
Crucial conversations deal with high-stakes interactions where emotions run strong and opinions vary. Crucial accountability deals with a subset of these interactions. After parties have come to a common understanding and assignments have been made — meaning things are on course — someone fails to complete his or her assignment.
All accountability discussions start with the question “Why didn’t you keep your commitment?” And they end, not merely when a solution is reached, but when it’s done in such a manner that both parties are able to comply and the relationship is strengthened. In short, accountability discussions are the prickly, complicated, and often frightening performance discussions that keep us up nights.
Now, here’s how the two books relate. This book draws on the principles found in Crucial Conversations—with an occasional and brief review of those pivotal concepts. With that said, almost all of the material you’ll find here deals with the challenges associated with violated commitments and, as such, is new and stand-alone. Pick up this book, read it, put the ideas into action, and you’ll never walk away from another broken promise again.
Acknowledgments
Here are just a few of our 100+ colleagues on the VitalSmarts team who are as committed to this work as any of the authors:
James Allred, Terry Brown, Mike Carter, Lance Garvin, Jeff Gibbs, Justin Hale, Emily Hoffman, Jeff Johnson, Todd King, Brittney Maxfield, Mary McChesney, John Minert, David Nelson, Stacy Nelson, Rich Rusick, Andy Shimberg, Mindy Waite, Yan Wang, Steve Willis, Mike Wilson, Paul Yoachum, and Rob Youngberg.
Thanks also to our U.S. associates who are gifted teachers and powerful influencers:
Doug Finton
Ilayne Geller
Tamara Kerr
Richard Lee
Simon Lia
Murray Low
Jim Mahan
Margie Mauldin
Paul McMurray
Jim Munoa
Larry Peters
Shirley Poertner
Mike Quinlan
Kurt Southam
Neil Staker
And finally we express gratitude to the partners and friends who have supported our work around the globe:
Australia — Geoff Flemming and Grant Donovan
Brazil — Josmar Arrais
China — Jenny Xu
Egypt — Hisham El Bakry
France — Cathia Birac and Dagmar Doring
India — Yogesh Sood
Indonesia — Nugroho Supangat
Italy — Giovanni Verrecchia
Malaysia — V. Sitham
Netherlands — Sander van Eijnsbergen and Willeke Kremer
Poland — Marek Choim
Singapore — James Chan
South Africa — Helene Vermaak and Jay Owens
South Korea — Ken Gimm
Switzerland — Arturo Nicora
Thailand — TP Lim
U.K. — Grahame Robb and Richard Pound
Introduction
What Is Crucial Accountability?
And Who Cares?