[.ca] Creating the Accountable Organization: A Practical Guide ... (ISBN 0975263854)

The Power of First-Person Plural Pronouns:
With all due respect to the importance of individual accountability, it is even more important to establish and then sustain such accountability at all levels and in all areas throughout an entire organization. In an earlier book co-authored with Sophie Chiche, The Power Of Personal Accountability, Samuel explains how to "achieve what matters to you." In his later work, he offers "a practical guide to improve performance" which takes into full account all of the challenges to achieving comprehensive and cohesive organizational transformation. Samuel seems to be a relentless pragmatist, focusing most of his attention on how to accomplish it, suggesting a number of strategies and tactics that offer no head-snapping revelations, nor does he make any such claim. However, each is based on an abundance of real-world evidence that validates its effectiveness if executed properly. Make no mistake about it: change initiatives inevitably encounter all manner of barriers, the most formidable of which tend to be cultural in nature. James O'Toole suggests that they result from what he aptly characterizes, in his book Leading Change, as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." In his book, Samuel discusses the results of a survey ("Organizational Accountability Assessment") he conducted among more than 1,100 employees from fifteen different industries, across all levels of organization. He expected responses to score between 70 and 85 out of a possible 100; the average turned out to be 57, and there was no significant difference in overall scores between those in management and non-management. Which were the most serious problems revealed by the survey? Samuel cites three: overwhelming and competing priorities, territorialism and silos, and avoidance. He then identifies and discuses what he describes as "Ten Deadly Sins That Prevent Us from Achieving Results." Next, he identifies and discusses eight elements that are consistently present in accountable organizations. The balance of his narrative provides a methodology that will help decision-makers in any organization (regardless of size or nature) to create and sustain accountability at all levels and in all areas. To me, some of the most valuable material in this book is provided in Chapter 5 as Samuel discusses various leadership roles that produce breakthrough results. Specifically, such leadership (which is demonstrated by effective initiatives) is necessary within three separate but interdependent groups: "1. Senior managers (catalysts for results and change) should lead and guide the organizational direction and the culture in response to external drivers. 2. Middle managers (change agents) should guide the culture and operations to ensure effective linkages and the removal of unnecessary barriers. 3. Employees (customer activists) should be dedicated to improving their relationships with others and their performance as it impacts the customer as well as the organization." All who read this book will agree on why such leadership is important but many of them probably need assistance with understanding how to establish a culture within which such leadership is developed, indeed nourished. Hence the importance of Samuel's book to them. As he would be the first to point out, it would be a fool's errand to try to implement all of his suggestions immediately or over an extended period of time. Rather, each reader must carefully absorb and digest the material in this book, then select whatever is most relevant to her or his organization. However, it is imperative to understand that organizational accountability cannot be created by fragmented, incremental, and isolated initiatives. Samuel's insights are certainly worthy of careful consideration but neither his nor any other methodology will achieve the desired results without effective leadership, a broad and deep base of support by everyone else involved, sufficient resources, and persistence. Before concluding his book, Mark Samuel suggests that there is something else to know about accountability: "Whatever problems are being solved by being more accountable, you will create new problems in their place. They will be `higher level' problems, and when those are resolved as you become more accountable, you will have new even `higher level' problems to resolve. The good news is that as you develop higher levels of accountability, you will be able to solve those problems and more - resulting in greater strength and much greater success."