Is “Done” all that matters?

Imagine this conversation:

Boss: “Did you finish the report?”

Employee:  [No response]

[10 minutes later]

Boss: “Just checking. Did you finish?”

Employee: [Texting] “Sorry. In a meeting.”

[10 minutes later]

Boss: “The Division Head needs this ASAP.”

Employee: “DONE!”

How many times have you received the reply “DONE?”

Is that a good thing?

Being responsible is a good thing.

So what’s not so good about this exchange?

A colleague, who leads a non-profit in the health sector, was on a search committee with me. He told us, “What you don’t want is the leader whose every interaction sounds like this: ‘did you it?’ ‘Yes, did it!’”

Stuck in the Trees?

Have you fallen into the myopic approach that my colleague warned about?  

Have you convinced yourself that this is simply “holding others accountable?” 

Certain people gravitate towards this type of dysfunctional behavior. 

I know I do.

As a 10-year kid, I remember a counselor saying something like, “You can miss the forest out there because you’re caught in the trees.” I’m 44 now and still often miss the forest. 

“I’m 44 now and still often miss the forest.”

“Hyper-focus can be an asset,” according to WebMD, and hyper-focus can be unhealthy too.

Remember the report prepared for the Division Head? If day after day “accountability” is solely focused on the question “did you do it?” it could result in repeated reporting that takes the division head 15 minutes to read and another 10-minute conversation just to understand. Is that success?

Or if the report is done well, but the customer meeting was cut short to get it DONE, is that success?

Hyper-focus, or what is commonly called tunnel vision has impacts people beyond simply spending time on the right tasks.

Consequences of Hyper-focus

When leaders engage in hyper-focus over time, here’s what this can look like:

• Ignoring important details outside of their focus
• Neglecting important relationships or communication with others
• Limiting creativity and innovation
• Becoming overly perfectionistic and nitpicky, leading to paralysis by analysis
• Neglecting self-care and burning out due to excessive focus on work
• Struggling to adapt to changes or unexpected situations

“It’s crucial that we recognize the danger of hyper-focus and missing the big picture.“

Consider this quote:

“As leaders, it’s crucial that we recognize the danger of hyper-focus and missing the big picture. We can easily fall into the trap of oversimplifying complex issues and stereotyping people and situations when we only see one side of the story,” as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie points out in her TED Talk. “By seeking out diverse perspectives,” Adichie continues, “and actively challenging our own biases and assumptions, we can broaden our understanding of the world and make more informed decisions.”

Zoom Out

Effective accountability involves asking the question, “Did you do it?” But that’s not the only question that should get asked.

If that’s the only question you ask, your focus is too narrow. You’re focused on the gnarled oak or the fallen tree blocking your path.

Zoom out.

Keep zooming out. 

A little more. 😉

Zoom out until you see the entire forest. 

Effective accountability takes into account the bigger picture. 

You may look at the gnarled oak or you may dig down deep into the earth to the root causes of a single problem. But then you’ll take a few steps (or more) back to view the situation of the entire forest.

The Big Picture 

After a team was more than a little out of sync following a challenging activity, Cindy Balazs, a corporate trainer, asked three simple questions:

• What happened?
• So what?
• Now what?

“These three questions help us focus on what matters.”

These three questions help us focus on what matters. If you’re stuck in the trees, this can help you zoom out to see the big picture and then focus again on moving forward.

When I answer these questions, I like to pause and give a brief answer for each.

Can you imagine the conversation above between the boss and the employee continuing with these questions? 

This is after the boss celebrates success, of course.

Boss: “What happened?

Employee: I completed the report. I had to rush the last part because I had a last-minute meeting with a client.

Boss: So what?

Employee: The content of the report is correct. But if I hadn’t rushed it, I think it could have been sequenced better.

Boss: Now what?

Employee: I’ll let my team know that I will forward your requests and ask them to put together a first draft. That will ensure we don’t get sloppy.

Accountability involves functioning together, creating something and ongoing growth. This broader view of accountability sets us up to see the beauty of the whole forest—and in fact the entire world God has created. 

“The big picture doesn’t just come from distance; it also comes from time.”

This broad view doesn’t appear overnight. As Simon Sinek says, “The big picture doesn’t just come from distance; it also comes from time.” If you take the time, you can see sets of interconnected roles and how we have the potential to grow and nurture the one another, taking care of the tasks and people that have been entrusted to each of us. 

It may be that you’re reading this thinking, “Josh actually my problem is that I don’t get anything “done!” OR “My people don’t accept responsibility!”

If that’s you, rest assured that we will address this challenge as well in this series “Accountability Matters.”

For those of you like me, who have either joined “Hyper-focus Anonymous” or who should join it because you tend to miss the big picture, consider the following exercises.

Wrapping up

Effective accountability goes beyond just asking the question “did you do it?” and involves taking into account the bigger picture. It requires asking questions like “what happened?”, “so what?”, and “now what?” to focus on what matters. It also takes time and effort to develop a broader view of accountability and see the sets of interconnected roles and how we can grow and nurture one another. 

Below I invite you to take a deep breath, reflect on your own experiences, and commit to practicing effective accountability for ongoing growth and success. 

Remember, accountability matters.