The accountability trap

By AMY NARISHKIN, Ph.D.

In organizations, what often looks like an accountability problem is actually the result of a cultural system leaders haven’t yet recognized—a recurring pattern of expectations, rewards, risks, and responses that quietly shapes how people behave.

The accountability problem

I was a week into an executive coaching engagement with Kevin, the CEO of a bank, when he shared his frustration.

“They’re not being accountable for their work.”

As he described what he was experiencing, I understood why he felt that way. Conversations were happening behind closed doors instead of face to face. People stepped into responsibilities that belonged to someone else. Conflict lingered instead of being addressed. Trust was eroding, turnover was increasing, and the bank wasn’t performing the way he knew it could.

From where he sat, accountability seemed to be the obvious issue.

Instead, I asked him a different question.

“What behaviors are you actually seeing?”

He paused. Then he answered again. This time, he stopped describing what he believed about his team and began describing what they were actually doing.

• Talking about others instead of speaking directly
• Assuming roles that weren’t theirs
• Avoiding difficult conversations
• Failing to follow through

It seems like a small difference. I’ve learned it rarely is.

What if accountability isn’t the starting point?

Daniel Kahneman’s research showed that our brains naturally create explanations from limited information. We don’t simply observe behavior. We instinctively assign meaning to it.

In leadership, that tendency can move us from observation to conclusion before we become curious about what we’re actually seeing.

Over the years, I’ve found myself asking leaders one deceptively simple question: “What’s actually happening?”

Not…

Why are they doing that?

Or…

What’s wrong with them?

Simply…

What’s actually happening?

My years in education taught me to separate a person’s worth from their behavior. Behavior wasn’t the person. It was information. My responsibility wasn’t simply to correct it but to understand it well enough to help someone learn a more productive way forward.

That lesson continues to shape every leader I coach. What else might be true?

As Kevin continued describing what he observed, I noticed something. Every example involved people responding to one another. Talking about someone instead of talking to them, stepping into someone else’s responsibilities, and avoiding conflict didn’t happen in isolation.

Those behaviors were a response to the culture people had learned to navigate. That made me wonder: What cultural conditions might make those behaviors understandable?

Not acceptable. Understandable.

• What happens when someone raises a difficult issue directly?
• How clear are people’s responsibilities?
• What actions have people learned are rewarded?
• What have they learned is risky?

Those questions don’t remove accountability. They help us understand the environment in which accountability is either strengthened or weakened.

Organizational culture expert Edgar Schein observed that genuine inquiry creates the conditions for people to tell us what’s really happening instead of what they think leaders want to hear.

I’ve found the same to be true. The moment we become genuinely curious, something changes.

We stop asking, “Who’s the problem?” And begin asking, “What’s the cultural system shaping what I’m seeing?”

A different way forward

This is where cultural intelligence changes the conversation. Instead of reacting with certainty, leaders become curious. Instead of assuming motives, they seek to understand another person’s context. As understanding grows, trust deepens, expectations become clearer, and collaboration becomes possible.

Not because expectations become lower. Because they’re supported by a healthier culture.

What changed

Months later, I asked Kevin what had changed. I expected him to talk about improved performance. Instead, he smiled and quietly said, “I’m not operating out of fear anymore.”

Something much deeper had shifted. Kevin wasn’t reacting from fear to every behavior as evidence that someone lacked accountability. Instead of assuming he already knew what the behavior meant, he:

• Got curious about the cultural system surrounding it.
• Asked open-ended questions with genuine curiosity.
• Listened longer before drawing conclusions.
• Sought to understand the conditions the person was reacting to before deciding how to respond himself.

As Kevin changed his approach, his employees became more willing to tell him what they were actually experiencing. As those conversations became more honest, expectations became clearer, difficult issues surfaced sooner, trust grew.

Accountability strengthened—not because people were told to “be more accountable,” but because the cultural conditions supporting accountability became stronger.

The leadership shift

Before you decide someone isn’t taking responsibility…

Before you conclude your team has an accountability problem…

Ask yourself a different question: “Am I seeing an accountability problem, or am I seeing the effects of a cultural system I haven’t yet understood?”

That single question won’t answer everything. But it may help you see something you couldn’t see before. Sometimes, seeing differently is where meaningful change begins.

The moment we stop asking, “Who’s the problem?” and start asking, “What system is shaping this behavior?” leadership changes, and so does culture.

Human behavior makes more sense when we understand the cultural systems shaping it.

 

Most leaders try to fix people. Dr. Amy Narishkin helps results-oriented CEOs see the hidden systems shaping behavior so they can reduce turnover and build workplaces where people and performance thrive. Find her: www.linkedin.com/in/dramynarishkin