I’ve been a passionate advocate for many years of what I call “constructive accountability.” According to research, the word accountability has negative connotations for the vast majority of people in the workplace. That’s because it’s used more as a club to beat people down than a ladder to lift them up.  

After all these years of studying, writing and preaching about accountability, I thought I’d said and heard just about everything on the topic. Then I attended a workshop recently that opened up a new way to look at it. 

The session featured popular speaker and head of the VMax Group, Robert “Cujo” Teschner. He took participants on a deep dive into accountability – what it is, what it isn’t, what works, what doesn’t work and more. At one point in the session, he said something that shed a new light on it for me – Accountability is where you go to learn with constructive evaluation.

Think about that for a minute – accountability as a place to learn. Spot on brilliant – IF it’s done with constructive dialogue.

So what does that have to do with this blog on systematic continuous improvement? 

Fact is, employees in most organizations are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to sharing their ideas for improvement. One on hand, they desperately want to be heard, valued and taken seriously.  On the other hand, they are afraid to speak up for fear of being scoffed at, embarrassed or just plain ignored – basically the same thing that happens when they are “held accountable” for doing something wrong.

The best way to overcome that reluctance is to establish routine processes where everyone is eagerly invited to participate in sessions for the sole purpose of sharing ideas for improvement – where you go to learn with constructive evaluation. Not on a sporadic basis. Not just when they feel the urge to talk with their supervisor. Not just in reaction to when the proverbial crap hits the fan. But always and ongoing as a regular part of everyone’s day-to-day job.

If you can imagine the possibilities, and you’d like to learn how to build that kind of process into the regular work routine of YOUR team, click on the link below, and let’s get together.

6-Week Program for Systematic Continuous Improvement

“Great is the enemy of better”

Tell Us Your Stories!

If you have a story that illustrates the power and potential of employees engaged in continuous improvement, we’d love to hear it – and share it with our readers.