Develop a “no commitments” accountability
We know that an effective business relies on having clear governance with active leaders and clear delegation.
Therefore, this second habit is all about absolving responsibilities and accountabilities. Of course, on paper, you can give people titles and important looking responsibilities. But if you work hard only to pay “lip service” and not assign accountability to the right people, things can start to fall apart.
For example, businesses often assign the accountability of digital transformation to the IT Department. They may not really know what digital transformation means for the business, but it sounds technical, and most people think the IT Department should have this covered. This gives the IT Department, which is too busy to manage the transformation due to the day-to-day distractions, an opportunity to outsource the responsibility to big vendors.
By now, you’ll be laying solid foundations for a Circle of Blame.
Build your Circle of Blame
Circles of Blame are great for individuals who don’t want to be held accountable. It protects them from the subsequent fallout as they can spread any legitimate blame to other unwitting players.
Work hard on building this circle because it will surely:
- Waste the business’s money, time, and energy
- Disengage business users from the process and solidify silos of distrust between IT, service providers and vendors
- Drive the business back to using in-efficient manual processes
- Put everyone off from wanting to attempt a digital transformation in the business over the next five years
You’ll know when you have an effective Circle of Blame in place. You’ll start seeing signs of finger-pointing, cover-ups, and blatant dishonesty from operational staff up to senior leadership. These are not only great signs that your tactics are working but that staff have the right habit for destroying the digital transformation.
Maintain your comfortable business
The power of this approach is that you can set it up right from the beginning and just watch as the transformation falls apart like a slow train wreck.
Then you can fall back into your comfort zone as the business remains the same. Even if your customers and clients start going elsewhere for your solution.
How comfortable is your business?
Can you relate to this - is this habit alive and well in your business? Have you seen signs of poor accountability in your transformation projects?
Whilst it looks hard to screw up a business with no accountability, it’s quite easy. It’s comfortable. And very common from our experience.
What’s hard is knowing how to set up a governance structure that provides for a successful outcome. And knowing who to assign responsibility.
At a2b Transformation, we have seen this a lot across all types of business. We help clients turn this dangerous habit of spreading accountability around so they can expect a successful digital transformation.
And if you’re worried about signs you see of this habit in your organisation, talk to us about how we can help you get out of your comfort zone with the right foundation.
Talk to a2b today about setting up your digital transformation for success, growth and operational efficiency.
