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1-Page Summary of The Oz Principle
Above and Below the Line
It’s important to work hard, but it’s also important not to get lazy. To avoid this, you need to take these steps: muster the courage to see what needs fixing, find the heart to own up and solve the problem yourself, gain wisdom from your mistakes so that you can continue improving and execute by using whatever means necessary. The opposite of this is being passive and accepting things as they are without trying at all. Doing nothing or blaming others will only lead you down a path of failure.
Accountability is a solution to many problems. It’s not magic, but it can solve quite a few issues. The book points out that Cisco Systems had serious problems because of its lack of accountability. After the company missed some cues at first, management figured things out and took action by writing off billions in bad investments and laying off 8500 employees.
Cisco is not unique in the sense that it recognized its problem and took steps to solve it. People tend to avoid facing problems, especially when they are responsible for them. One of General Electric’s (GE) biggest blunders was a $450 million mistake involving powdered metal components in refrigerator compressors. GE and other companies had previous issues with such components, but the design team went forward with them anyway. When events proved that these parts didn’t work as intended, insiders blamed each other and tried to hide the issue; denial led to inaction. The mechanical failure would have been difficult if people had addressed it earlier, but delays made things worse.
Are You Below the Line?
To figure out when you or your company are failing, consider this quick self-diagnosis: * Do you feel like you have little to no control of what’s happening? * Do people tell you that they see more potential in you than what is being done? * Are you defensive and blame others for your problems? *
Do you avoid taking responsibility for your work? Do people look to you as the person who will tell them what happened? Do you find yourself avoiding thinking about things that might point a finger at you if they’re said out loud? Are you pessimistic about the world around you, and do you say “it’s not my job”? If so, it may be time to recognize those patterns of behavior as impediments to accountability. Life below the line goes through six stages: ignore/deny, It’s not my job!, blame game, depression, surrender and recovery.
People don’t like taking responsibility for their actions. They wait for someone to tell them what to do, so they can blame that person if something goes wrong.
“Cover your tail” – People who are worried about protecting themselves don’t take chances. They might not show up to meetings or leave in the middle of a crisis so that no one can blame them if things go wrong.
“Wait and See” – Some employees are so paralyzed by fear that they do nothing. They just wait, hoping for something good to happen.
Being Accountable
Define accountability correctly. It’s not about fault, it’s about responsibility. People don’t usually ask who is responsible for success unless something goes wrong. Accountability includes both success and failure, so people should be accountable for their actions whether they succeed or fail.
Ask for feedback from people who can give you constructive criticism and candid feedback.
You must be honest with yourself and others, even when it hurts. You also need to face facts no matter how unpleasant they are. If you can’t control something, don’t waste your time or energy on it. Commit yourself fully to what you’re doing, and if your commitment starts to wane, work hard to rekindle it. Take full responsibility for everything that happens in the workplace. Enjoy being responsible for things that happen around you because accountability is mutual; everyone on a team should own their part of a problem so that they can fix it together and attain the right outcome through “see-it/own-it/solve-it/do-it” approach
