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Definition of Responsibility from
www.m-w.com (Merriam Webster)
1: the quality or state of
being
responsible: as a: moral, legal, or
mental accountability b:
reliability,
trustworthiness
2: something for which one
is
responsible :
burden <has neglected his responsibilities>
Definition of Responsible:
1a: liable to be
called on to answer b (1): liable to be called to
account as the primary cause,
motive, or
agent <a committee responsible for the
job> (2): being the cause or explanation <mechanical
defects were responsible for the accident> c:
liable to legal review or in case of fault to penalties
2a: able to answer
for one's conduct and obligations :
trustworthy b: able to choose for
oneself between right and wrong
3: marked by or involving
responsibility or accountability <responsible
financial policies>
4: politically answerable,
especially: required to submit to the
electorate if defeated by the
legislature —used especially of the British
cabinet
Example:
Merriam Webster should be responsible for
creating a definition of responsibility that they could be
held accountable for.
While it's obvious that you don't end a
sentence with a preposition, it's also obvious that most
people don't have a clue in how to define responsibility
without using accountability and vice versa. Yet,
it's clear to me, that they are not so subtle as to be
interchangeable, or to be used in the definition of the other.
In a spreadsheet, we would call this a circular
reference and the formula would be misleading, as are the
attempts at defining accountability and responsibility.
To meet the criteria of accountability,
responsibility would need to be measureable, specific and
tangible, as well as having an attribute of being verifiable,
scalable, and duplicatable as a starting point.
Since we don't get that, we must IMHO,
arrive at a set of distinctions which we can be responsible
for, and be held accountable for.
I believe that we have a working
definition of accountability, which in no way uses the term
responsibility in its definition.
So, what is responsibility if we can't
use accountability in defining it?
I see it simply, as Drucker saw the
responsibility for people to "make and keep commitments”.
If I am to be held accountable, I am
responsible in the process of being held accountable (or not)
in making and keeping my commitments.
Therefore responsibility is easiest to
define, and easy to use with accountability without one being
the other and the confusion of such being a barrier to flow.
I am responsible for making and keeping
commitments. I can be held accountable for
the specifics of being held to account, but in order to do so,
it must be fully verifiable, objective, duplicatable, and
scalable in order to meet the test for my accountability.
On the other hand, being held responsible
is a matter of commitment, whether it be moral, legal,
ethical, financial, or otherwise. I am
making a commitment, or being responsible for that commitment.
If I sign a legal document, I am
responsible for the terms of the agreement.
I have given my commitment and have become responsible.
As well, I may have particular accountabilities that
are specified in objective detail, to which I am to account.
In this way, there could be a person who
is both accountable and responsible, having specific measures
of accountability, and the commitment of responsibility.
The making and keeping of commitments may have nothing
to do with what I am held to account. In
fact, when the two are out of synchronicity, serious issues
may arise.
I can hold my subordinates accountable,
and they have a responsibility to make and keep those
commitments. On the other hand, if I am
irresponsible in creating the system where they are held
accountable and my responsibility to my commitments is less
than it should be for my accountabilities, then the issues of
both accountability and responsibility may be of concern.
However, the ONLY way that a system can
work in FLOW is for the responsibilities we have in making and
keeping commitments are coexisting alongside the specific
measurements, and verifiable data, roles accountabilities and
authority present.
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