Achieve with Accountability

Chapter 3Accountability—What Is It?

Once Defined, It Flows

While participating in a workshop, the facilitator made eye contact with me and, as many of us do in that situation (or at least I do), I glanced away hoping not be asked a question. My strategy did not work. Linda walked toward me and asked, “Mike, what is time?”

Immediately I thought to myself, Wow, what an easy question. I can answer this. I am glad she did not ask something more challenging.

As I opened my mouth to respond, nothing came out. My confidence quickly declined into dazed befuddlement. With the eyes of the other participants in the room cast upon me, I could feel the blood flowing to my face and the palms of my hands getting damp, as my mind scrambled uncontrollably. What the hell is time? I thought to myself.

“It is how we track our day,” was what fell out from my lips. What a stupid answer, I thought to myself, feeling embarrassed. I knew it was ridiculous even as I was forming the words before I spoke.

“That is a common answer and I hear it from lots of people,” Linda said with grace as she purposely helped save me from myself.

Linda continued to ask six or seven people to take a stab at answering the same question. She received six or seven different replies. Not one person nailed the answer. I must admit that made me feel better.

The funny thing is that most of the folks who raised their hands to answer seemed self‐assured they would nail it. None did.

Linda eventually shared the definition of time, ...