Hey Unfiltered Folks,

Answer: Because you only talk about accountability when something's wrong.

You use it like a weapon.

When things go well, you don't mention it.
When things go badly, you "hold people accountable."

That's punishment, not accountability.

This is your fault.

You taught them accountability means getting yelled at. Accountability should be neutral.

Question to Consider: When's the last time you celebrated someone being accountable?

Why: Accountability should be neutral, it's ownership of outcomes, good or bad.

Here's what you're doing: the project succeeds. You thank the team. Move on.
The project fails. You call a meeting. You "hold someone accountable."
You demand answers. That's not accountability. That's blame.

Your team learned: accountability means getting in trouble. So they avoid it. They hide mistakes. They deflect responsibility. They point fingers. No one volunteers to own anything risky.

The cost? Innovation dies. No one tries hard things. They stick to safe bets.

When something does go wrong, you get cover-ups instead of honesty. Problems fester.

By the time you find out, it's a crisis. Your best people leave because they want to own outcomes but you've made ownership dangerous.

You created this by weaponizing accountability. You turned it from ownership into punishment.

Action: Change the language today.

Accountability means ownership, good or bad.

This week, publicly thank someone who owned a failure. "Thanks for owning this. We didn't hit the goal, but you didn't hide. That's accountability."

Celebrate ownership even in failure.
Do this consistently.

Soon people will start volunteering to own things.
But you have to make it safe first.

Stay Unfiltered,
— Andy

P.S. Accountability should be neutral, it's ownership of outcomes, good or bad.

P.S.S. Buy my book to get 75 of the most painful leadership problems and fixes.