In two earlier posts, I discussed blame and resistance. Both are natural and predictable responses to problems that we place in our Circle of Concern: the place where we put the problems life throws at us, and which we feel powerless to tackle.
Call them Presented Problems.
We usually express a Presented Problem as a statement of what’s wrong. There’s a perceived gap between what is and what should be.
Inside the Circle of Concern is our Circle of Influence. Into that circle we place the problems we feel we can deal with. Being more effective, according to Stephen Covey, means concentrating on the problems we can control. Being more effective means increasing our Circle of Influence.
But it’s not easy. Our wired world helps us to fill our Circles of Concern very easily. Yet, despite our helpless rage as we endure another night of Channel 4 News, it’s important to remember that we choose to put problems into one circle or the other. “Our behaviour,” says Covey, “is a function of our decisions, not our conditions.”
We take responsibility when we choose to take ownership of a Presented Problem. Presented Problems happen to us: we’re not responsible for their existence, but we can take responsibility for dealing with them.
Being responsible always means having an obligation to someone else, or to a group, or to society. After all, it’s other people who hold us responsible for our actions. So to be responsible is to enter into a kind of contract. We might speak of honouring our responsibilities. To be accountable means that someone can hold us to account for our responsibilities.
Most of our work, at work, then, is filled with responsibilities.
Responsibilities are paradoxical. On the one hand, like contracts, they have limits. Once we’ve discharged our responsibilities, we can walk away. It’s what we do at the end of the working day (some of us).
On the other hand, taking on a responsibility, like signing a contract, must be a free act. To be responsible for your actions is to know what you're doing – and to be free to choose not to. "A hero," said Bob Dylan, "is someone who understands the responsiblity that comes with his freedom."
Responsibilities tend to have certain troubling features. Here are just a few. (Think of your responsibilities at work, and you may see what I mean.)
- Unclear goals. The person handing responsibility to us may not know precisely what they want us to do, or – even more troublingly – what they don’t want us to do.
- Lack of control. If we had complete influence over what to do and how to do it, we’d be happier.
- Lack of immediate feedback. We may have to check with others about aspects of the problem: information, deadlines, or criteria of success. And those people may be unavailable.
- A mismatch between challenge and skill. We often have to assume responsibility for problems that are trivially easy, boring and tedious (call them chores). We may have to take responsibility for problems that are mind-numbingly difficult (call them headaches).
The best way to honour a responsibility is to know beforehand precisely what’s you’re taking on.
Why?
What’s the overall objective in tackling this problem? What outcome are you being expected to achieve? Do you have SMART goals (are they specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely)?
Who?
To whom are you accountable? And for whom are you accountable?
What?
What precisely is the problem you’re taking on? How well do you understand it? How well defined is it?
When?
Is there a deadline? Are there milestones that you will be expected to hit?
Where?
Where will your solution have an impact? How far does your responsibility stretch?
How?
What authority have you been granted? What constraints or restraints will you be expected to operate under? (Restraints are the things you can’t do; constraints are the things you must do.) What resources are available to you? What support can you count on?
Responsibility may be the price of freedom, as Elbert Hubbard suggested. But it carries a mighty payoff. "Let us not," said JFK, " seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future." Blame and resistance look back; responsibility looks forward. Responsibility creates hope.
This post is based on material in my book,How to Solve Almost Any Problem. I run courses on problem-solving and decision-making. Check out an outline here.
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