10 Signs of an Accountable Culture (Infographic)

3 min read

According to an article in Harvard Business Review, "The brutal fact is that about 70% of all change 10 Signs of An Accountable Culture initiatives fail." There are lots of reasons that fast growing mid-market companies have a hard time completing complex initiatives like integrating acquisitions, launching new products, expanding to new markets, and driving revenue growth. When you have initiatives like these, you are relying on cross-departmental collaboration and high performance from your individual A-players. Breakdowns in communication, lack of clear purpose, failure to set common expectations, poor collaboration, and lack of follow up on results and consequences can all spell disaster for your best-laid plans. The key is team accountability.

There are lots of misconceptions about accountability; many view it as a harsh or punitive term (think: "I'm going to hold my team accountable for not hitting their numbers!") In reality, accountability is not something we can impose on others; it is something we have to intentionally build into our culture so that each of us holds ourselves accountable. What does the right environment for accountability to thrive look like?