Given the sloppiness of leadership and resultant lack of accountability on display this week, it’s a good time to consider why accountability matters and what the connection is to consistency.
“We’ve always done it that way.”
How often have you heard this knee-jerk phrase uttered in a business setting?
It’s typically uttered when someone doesn’t like following a set way of doing things — when a process is mindlessly followed and someone is trying to introduce something new: a new technology, new process, or new way of thinking.
“We’ve always done it that way” is the business equivalent of a parent uttering “Because I said so.”
There may be very good reasons for doing something consistently over time just as there may be good reasons to try something new.
Leonardo da Vinci wouldn’t have created a masterpiece had he followed what other artists had done or used a paint-by-numbers canvas. He created a new process and painted on poplar wood.
Consistency is important, but it ought to be tied to purpose or vision. Give people a reason to do something a certain way. Mindless repetition without meaning is the stuff of automatons.
Process matters.
One of the hallmarks of my tenure at Ford was a process Alan Mulally brought with him from his three decades at Boeing: the BPR, or business plan review. As an engineer, he appreciated process and as a leader, this process helped make people accountable for their divisions.
When he arrived at Ford, the company was falling apart and it needed process discipline. The culture was one of fiefdoms that protected and hoarded information. Information is power.
As you might imagine, such a strong and intractable culture was resistant to the BPR. In fact, one executive told Alan:
“Listen, Alan, one of the most important things I need to spend time on is the business unit, not getting distracted. I really don’t want to do this.”
Alan’s response was simple: “Trust the process.”
