Hughs Blog

Do you own it?

I was inspired by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson’s comments in their new book REWORK on the need to stop using the term “entrepreneur”. As they put it: “It’s outdated and loaded with baggage. It smells like a members-only club.”

Their argument is that like many words, “entrepreneur” gives the wrong connotation and doesn’t do a good job of describing the start up energy that business owners really need. “You don’t need an MBA, a certificate, a fancy suit, a briefcase, or an above-average tolerance for risk. You just need an idea, a touch of confidence, and a push.”
Words have a huge impact on how we think and react. We all know that “disaster” or “problem” aren’t likely to engage people into find solutions as much as “opportunity” might. Nor do enthusiastic and ecstatic conjure up the same emotions.

Similarly, We can label a co-worker as “impossible” or “difficult” and start looking for the voodoo doll pins, or think of them more generously as “interesting” and find them less intrusive or awkward to be around.
These musings got me thinking about the word  “accountability”. It’s a fairly academic-sounding term for something pretty simple: do you own the results? When I lead a management training program and the topic of accountability comes up I often feel like I’m trying to teach people how to breath; we all do it instinctively and hardly need a seminar. “If you make a commitment to a goal you are saying ‘I can be held accountable’”. Duh. Somehow that clever message lacks some punch.

But if I was to say: “Before you make a commitment, first ask yourself ‘Am I willing to own the results?’”. In my books that packs more of an emotional warning and impact.

When Lance Armstrong put his relatively leisurely lifestyle on hold to go undergo the brutal training regime to compete in yet another Tour de France competition he needed to be prepared to own the results (which was unlikely to include a win). When Pat Tillman turned down a $9.6M three-year offer with the St Louis Rams and chose to enlist in the Iraq war he needed to own the results.

What about you? Are you willing to do what you need to do in this life and own the results?

Let me know what you think…

Tags: accountability, culver, jason fried, leadership, pat tillman

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