Individual accountability lives in the white spaces of an organization - those areas on the organization charts "between internal departments, in contractual ambiguity, and regulatory complexity." According to Hal Amens (2009), the white space in any organizations is filled with places where functional misunderstandings occur, communication falters, responsibilities may overlap, roles change, priorities conflict, rewards are unclear, risk are unknown, and people perceive that the risks outweigh opportunities.

Organizational White Spaces
It is in these white spaces that we, as managers, must work to solve problems and produce results. And, it is in the white space that we hear phrases such as "who is accountable for this project?" This question implies that we can make someone accountable or "hold her/him accountable." This is a misconception. Think about it: If I succeed in making you do something, what have I accomplished? Have I made you accountable or responsible?

Responsibility is a duty, obligation, or burden to do some right thing. It is the social force that binds us to our obligations and the courses of action demanded by that force. On the other hand, accountability comes from within a person. It is personal ownership and a commitment to achieve the optimum. One might say their responsibility is the job description - the tasks, functions, and deliverables for which our employer pays us while accountability is the quality with which we do the tasks, functions, and deliverables. It is constantly looking for ways to do things more effectively, to better serve our patients.

Example: Responsibility vs. Accountability
A data entry operator will be responsible for entering information correctly into a computer. An accountable data entry operator will enter the information correctly and would look for ways to make the process more effective.

Individual Responsibility and Joint Accountability
Responsibility is about identified tasks - the duties that I have agreed to perform. Accountability is a self-empowered mind set of what more can I do to get the results? It is the manner in which I carry out those assigned duties.

From a management standpoint, individual responsibility must be combined with joint accountability where people share ownership of circumstances and results. Although it might be easier to blame or assign responsibility to one person, everyone involved shares ownership; results come from collective, rather than individual action.

When individuals only complete their own responsibilities things fall through the cracks. When individual employees go above and beyond what is expected of them and achieve accountability, collectively they create joint accountability. Joint accountability depends not on management, but on individuals choosing to be accountable.

How Accountable Are You?
Our level of accountability is often demonstrated by what we say. Read each of the following statements and select the response that best describes how often you use that particular statement. Use a scale 1 to 5, where: 1 = Always and 5 = Never

____1. That's not the way we've always done it
____2. It's not my job.     
____3. I didn't know you needed it right away. 
____4. It wasn't my fault that it's late.     
____5. That's not my department.    
____6. No one told me what to do.   
____7. I'm waiting for approval.      
____8. Someone should have told me not to do that.
____9. Don't blame me; it was the boss's idea. 
____10. I didn't know.     
____11. I forgot.     
____12. If you had told me it was important, I would have done it.   
____13. I'm too busy to do it.  
____14. Someone told me to do the wrong thing.     
____15. I thought I told you.    
____16. Why didn't you ask me?      
____17. No one invited me to the meeting - I didn't get the memo.   
____18. My people dropped the ball.
____19. Nobody's followed up on me; it can't be that important.
____20. I told someone else to take care of it. 
____Total Score

Scoring

1. Tally your score an write it in the space below.
2. Your score may range from 20 to 100.
3. A score of:

• 0- 20 indicates a high level of accountability
• 21 - 30 indicates a medium level of accountability
• 31 and above indicates a low level of accountability.

Now, what will you do to improve your accountability?