Alignment, Accountability and Autonomy are three English terms that together form a solid foundation of work in adaptive organizations.
Alignment describes the agreement of the ideas and goals of different people, e.g. a team and a manager.
Autonomy describes the degree of self-determination for a person or a team. Important for a stable autonomy is always the clear description of its limits.
Accountability (also responsibility) in English, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is “the quality or state of being accountable; an obligation or willingness to take responsibility for one’s actions.”
Henrik Kniberg’s 1-min Youtube video on “Alignment enables autonomy”.
Promoting responsible action
Important: Accountability is not about punishment for wrongdoing, but about a willingness to take responsibility for one’s actions.
If I, as a leader, want to promote responsible action, I should
- Starting with myself, showing integrity and responsible action
- set clear expectations
- Creating trust and psychological safety .
- Forum SMART tasks. SMART as an abbreviation for: “specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, trackable”, i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, trackable or
More on this can be found in the article “Lead”