The role of ACCOUNTABILITY cannot be overstated in both personal and professional growth. But there's a question that must be answered by leaders who demand it:
"Is accountability a safe choice in your business?"
When things go awry, it may be a natural tendency to want to 'stick their nose in it,' to ensure they know the damage done, to feel the pain of it, maybe even some shame... 'so they can learn.'
Acknowledgement of what went wrong is, of course, critical to avoid repeating it (and often to fixing it). And, making mistakes is rarely consequence-free. (We're not suggesting hugging it out and hoping for the best.)
But if our focus is on efficacy, there IS a more effective approach to managing it:
As leaders, when our focus is on clarity (what happened and why), resolution (how can we fix it), and collective responsibility (what can we each do better), we accomplish several things:
1) we get the results we need - faster
2) we create an environment where people know they can own their mistakes
3) ultimately, we make fewer of them
(Why? because that is how learning happens within teams - by seeing, doing, owning and iterating)
Your teams will make mistakes. Are they able to own them, or must they do so at their own risk?