Responsibility vs. Accountability
by PartnersInLeadership
While the words responsibility and
accountability are often used interchangeably, we believe there is an
important, fundamental difference between the two. Responsibility may be
bestowed, but accountability must be taken. In other words, responsibility can
be given or received, even assumed, but that doesn’t automatically guarantee
that personal accountability will be taken. Which means that it’s possible to
bear responsibility for something or someone but still lack accountability.
The difference between
responsibility and accountability is most readily observed when people “drop
the ball” on an important project, seemingly because individual duties were not
more clearly defined. “Whose ball was that?” “I thought you had it?” “It wasn’t
my job!”— are frequently offered as explanations that someone did not shirk
their responsibility and fail to do their job. Clearly defining
responsibilities is certainly essential, but encouraging people to go a step
further and take personal accountability will secure better results every time.
When people take accountability for
results, not just doing their jobs, they take ownership for making sure the
ball does not get dropped. Organizations often try to solve this problem by
redefining responsibilities, reorganizing what people do, and restructuring the
way work is done, only to find that changing where people sit in the
organization, won’t necessarily change how they think. Accountability is a
broader concept than responsibility, making it possible to keep things from
“falling through the cracks” that always exist between the responsibility boxes
on an organizational chart. When people take accountability, they are more
likely to invest their hearts and minds in getting things done, allowing them
to achieve results that often exceed expectations.