TheKaiZone is back with the second post of our three-part series on the dynamics of accountability in Lean organizations (read Part 1 here). 

Accountability.  We all want it.  In fact, we DEMAND it, especially when things go wrong.  Yet, few of us understand what it is and how it works. Could it be that our misguided attempt to hold others “accountable” is the root cause that underlies our seeming lack of accountability?  And if so, can this accountability paradox be reversed?

Lisa’s Story: A Case Study in Holding Others Accountable

Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to read is true . . . and – to our great dismay – all too common.  The names and titles have been changed to protect the “accountable” parties. [Read more…]

TheKaiZone is back!  And we’re kicking things off with a three-part series on the dynamics of accountability in Lean organizations.  Accountability, while critical to progress and success at a very fundamental level, is a concept that is not well understood in the practice of modern management today.   Learn why others cannot be held accountable, how our efforts to do so actually reduce individual accountability and how Lean’s Respect for People principle effectively reverses the accountability paradox. 

It’s a universal mantra of modern management.  Master this phrase, and you too could become management material.  Here’s how . . . [Read more…]