Article - The Frustration That is Accountability

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AUTHOR: Robert Craven

I have several roles with digital agencies: NED, chair to the board, consultant, mastermind leader. My frustration is around the issue of accountability. Everyone wants it, yet few follow through on it. Why?

Agency folk love accountability when everything is going well. There’s nothing nicer than watching your fancy charts all turn to green as you nail your targets.

When it doesn’t go quite so well, that is when we don’t get around to doing it.

So, what is going on?

Accountability is crucial. 99% of my clients agree that it will help them to reach their goals.

They agree that they do need a virtual clout over the head with a damp copy of the Sporting Times to keep them on track.

And yet some do not ‘play the game’. They ask for accountability but fail to deliver their side of the bargain. They fail to set up a decent set of goals or to report on progress.

So, why the failure?

Is it a lack of understanding of how KPIs or OKRs work? Are they too fiddly to roll out through your agency?

Or is it a lack of understanding of how accountability works? A lack of commitment to sharing goals and progress (or lack of it)?

Let’s just back up a bit.

Creating a strategy is great fun, planning and researching the best way forward. However, strategy is a commodity. In some senses, anyone can knock together an average, run-of-the-mill strategy. Just fill in the boxes!!

While strategy might be a commodity, execution is an art.

To deliver consistently is hard. Breaking through challenging targets is tough. And then to be organised enough to have the right systems and processes in place to measure it all is even tougher. And then to have the discipline to evangelically and methodically measure and assess every cog in the machine requires a particular mindset.

For most, I suspect that we fall into what I call ‘Slimmer’s World Syndrome’. The rewards for this work are all in the future. But first, we need to face disruption, discomfort and discipline. The whole process is tough… and awkward… and annoying…. and frightening. To be honest, it is completely unpleasant and Slimmer’s World Syndrome appears:

• We try

• We get distracted and succumb to distractions

• We give up.

What’s required is a permanent change and that doesn’t happen easily. It is tough and unpleasant. A bitter pill for most of us.

The choice is to get serious and make it happen. Or take a chill pill, relax and don’t bother. The choice is yours.