By Regine Azurin
This article is based on the following book: The Oz Principle :Getting Results Through Individual and OrganizationalAccountability By Roger Connors, Tom Smith, and Craig HickmanPublished by Penguin Group, 2004 ISBN 1-59184-024-4 234 pages
In The Oz Principle, Connors, Smith, and Hickman brilliantly usethe analogy of “The Wizard of Oz” to discuss a businessphilosophy aimed in propelling individuals and organizations toovercome unfavorable circumstances and achieve desired results.This philosophy can be encompassed in one word: ACCOUNTABILITY.
The eponymous principle builds upon the ethos of personal andorganizational accountability. It explores the root cause of anorganization’s impediments to exceptional performance andproductivity, and provides great insight on how to re-establisha business from the bottom up, emphasizing on the thin line thatseparates success from failure. The Above The Line, Below TheLine methodology is the driving force behind The Oz Principle.
The Oz Principle: Getting Results through Accountability
Just like Dorothy’s search for the Wizard of Oz forenlightenment, individuals and organizations also seek out thewizard that will save them from the maladies that afflict theirworkplace. However, the wizard is just a distraction, bearingnew-fangled business philosophies and management fads that willonly create a layer atop the ugly truth that needs to berevealed. When the core problem is not addressed, the ills willeventually resurface and the business is back to its sorry state.
Victim Thinking or Failed Accountability
When a company suffers from poor performance or unsatisfactoryresults, individuals from top management all the way to thefront line begin finger-pointing, forming excuses,rationalizing, and justifying, instead of doing something toalleviate the situation. They foolishly profess that thecircumstances have made victims of them, that the events arecompletely out of their control, and that they shouldn’t beblamed for the company’s current problems. It’s always somethingor someone else, never themselves.
Above The Line, Below The Line
A thin line separates failure and success, greatness andmediocrity.
Above The Line, you’ll find the Steps to Accountability whichinclude in chronological order: See It, Own It, Solve It, and DoIt. The first step, See It, means acknowledging the problem; toOwn It is to assume responsibility for the problem and theresults; Solve It means to formulate solutions to remedy thesituation; and, as a culminating step, Do It commands thepractical application of the solutions identified.
Below The Line is where the self-professed victims play TheBlame Game. Here, crippling attitudes such as Wait and See,Confusion/Tell Me What To Do, It’s Not My Job, Ignore/Deny,Finger Pointing, and Cover Your Tail are rampant. Thoughmajority of the people found in this dimension are weak inaccountability, this does not mean that very accountableindividuals are exempt from falling Below The Line. They, too,slip every now and then. The only difference is that they knowhow to get out of the rut.
A Simple Solution to Victimization
Individuals and organizations Below The Line languish inself-pity until they get trapped in the “I Am a Victim” mind-setand find it hard to break free from the vicious cycle.Accountability offers a very simple choice to make, albeit adifficult one to act upon: “You can either get stuck or getresults.” So stark in its simplicity that most people fail torealize that the ball has always been in their court.
The Power of Individual Accountability: Moving Yourself AboveThe Line
The first step to accountability is recognizing the problem. Ittakes great courage to admit that you are stuck in a difficultsituation. Most people, however, fail to view reality the way itis because they choose to ignore it or they accept the situationas the status quo and go along with it.
To commence the march up the Steps to Accountability, you mustfirst muster the courage to:
a) recognize when you fall Below The Line;
b) realize that remaining Below The Line not only ignores thereal problem but leads to increasingly poor results; c)acknowledge and accept reality as the first step toward takingaccountability.
Mustering the courage to See It will lead to the next step,Owning It. Here, you must have the heart to own thecircumstances you’ve recognized in the See It step as well asthe results that will come from the course of action you plan totake.
“What else can I do to rise above my circumstances and achievethe results I want?” That is the question to continually askyourself when you find yourself stuck in a stubborn situation.Apart from creating solutions, Solving It also involvesforesight in determining the worst possible scenario that canhappen, and being prepared to battle it head on.
Having solutions is not enough if you neglect practicalapplication. You can’t Do It unless you make yourselfaccountable not only for immediate circumstances but also forfuture accomplishment. With this, you are empowering not onlyyourself but also your organization.
It’s so easy to be pulled back Below The Line, especially if youdon’t accept full accountability for the situation and thefuture. A lot people are afraid to become accountable becausethey fear the risks associated with it. However, know thatwithout taking the big leap, you will never get anywhere.
By: Regine P. Azurin
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