- A common challenge for organizations is getting people to take responsibility for their work instead of deferring or shifting blame, a critical element in cultures of accountability.
- A recent study suggests that our sense of responsibility, and the brain activity that supports it, can emerge from having a sense of control or agency in our work, as opposed to merely following orders.
- These results reveal a tangible way for leaders to foster a sense of responsibility for all individuals, even in hierarchical organizations.
If you’re a leader, how many times have you seen the following scenario play out? You give an otherwise dedicated team member an important task, only for them to work slowly, deliver subpar results, and then shrug their shoulders or shift blame. You’re confused. Aren’t they a high performer? Why don’t they take responsibility? Recent research offers a possibility for what might be going on.
In a newly published brain imaging study, researchers showed that the act of merely following someone else’s orders, or not having ownership of our decisions, reduces our sense of responsibility for the actions that follow. In other words, how responsible we feel, stems from having a “stake in the game,” or some degree of ownership in the work.
This study builds on a growing body of work into how accountability happens in the workplace. Taking responsibility for the work done and the impact made is one of the characteristics of accountability, a concept that, while not new to the organizational landscape, is a current challenge facing many. While 91% of managers and employees say accountability is important at work, 97% of managers (as shared in a recent NLI Leadership Think Tank) say they struggle to hold their teams accountable. Everyone knows it matters, but almost no one feels confident implementing accountability.
The challenge is that in this new era of working, the formal systems organizations have historically relied on, may not work like they used to, primarily because we have learned that there are better ways to create accountability and now we need to revise the systems. For example, the common idea that holding employees accountable for their actions with performance evaluations, employment contracts, or disciplinary procedures is an effective means to help them improve, reach performance standards, and regulate their behavior, lacks one critical component — the individual’s belief or perception of being accountable. So, it may not be as simple as sending a list of tasks to a team member and expecting results. That’s because people won’t choose to be more responsible just because we tell them to. They need to feel responsible first.
A sense of control fosters responsibility in the brain
Research has suggested that there are several factors which will increase the likelihood someone will take responsibility for their actions or decisions. One of these factors is whether we believe we have a sense of agency or control over our actions. Today, few managers and employees report having such control. Only 21% of employees feel their performance metrics — which often define accountability — are within their control. And managers also claim they have “limited to no” agency or control to hold others accountable.
Prior research has shown that when we lose our sense of control, such as when we’re obeying orders or being told to do something, this immediately reduces our perception of responsibility. We feel less responsible for an outcome if someone else, especially with a higher status or rank, told us to do it. This poses a major challenge to organizations, especially those that are structured hierarchically. If individuals, whether it’s employees or managers, feel a lack of agency or control, they will also feel less responsible for their actions and shift blame to others.
A recent study further explored this question by looking to see what happens in the brain when we don’t have a sense of control over decisions, especially when being faced with immoral or difficult decisions. Published in Cerebral Cortex Journal, the study tested a sense of agency by examining both free and coerced choices. Participants were either given free choice to inflict a mild shock to another individual, which added a factor of morality to the decision, or coerced to follow the test giver’s orders to inflict the shock.
As expected, participants felt less responsible for their actions when they were merely “following orders” than those that had “free choice” over their actions. Functional magnetic resonance imaging supported the behavioral impact. Researchers found that activity within the frontal gyrus, precuneus, and lateral occipital cortes, regions linked to our sense of control and decision-making, differed across the groups.
When individuals had “free choice” over their decisions, these brain areas were more highly engaged — people felt a sense of control and seemingly took a more active role in their decision, measured through the time it took to make a decision and engagement of brain areas that are associated with conscious decision-making. This fostered their sense of responsibility, and aligns with earlier work showing a similar effect — having a sense of control makes people feel “fully responsible” for their actions. On the other hand, when individuals were merely “following orders,” these brain areas were quiet and people acted almost immediately with no time to consider their actions — they did not actively consider their decisions as measured through a lack of engagement in decision making brain regions. This lack of brain activity acts to distance people, mentally, from the decision and responsibility for the outcomes, and aligns with work showing that participants report “not being responsible” when not having a choice.
Creating accountability through ownership
These results suggest that getting to responsibility begins with a sense of agency. If leaders want their teams to be more accountable, they first need to increase their teams’ sense of control or ownership of their work. Any decision made towards their goals will then be made with a felt sense of responsibility, and they will be more likely to take that responsibility when faced with the impact of their actions.
In NLI’s newest behavioral framework for Proactive Accountability, we describe the three main behaviors that managers can engage in to drive their team towards accountability. One of those behaviors aims to increase an individual’s sense of responsibility towards their work through purpose and ownership. This isn’t always easy for managers. In a recent pulse survey, respondents indicated that when it comes to fostering accountability, their leaders struggled the most with the act of reminding team members of the work’s purpose.
This could mean reminding a team member during a weekly check-in of the reason their work is critical, whether it’s aligned with an organizational goal or a team goal. This will increase engagement of the networks in the brain associated with the “why” behind the work. An added benefit of engaging these networks of the brain is that it can also boost resilience and grit towards future challenges, making it more likely for people to reach their goals.
In addition to purpose, managers can help employees feel a greater sense of ownership over their work by making the work meaningful to the individual or align it with their career goal. For example, a manager can remind a team member how the work builds the skills needed for them to be considered for a new role or promotion. Making the work personally meaningful will act to increase the person’s sense of agency, and ultimately, responsibility for the work.
Creating a sense of ownership through purpose and meaning is just one of the three behaviors leaders can engage in to boost their team’s accountability. We’ve incorporated these three key behaviors into our latest solution, DELIVER: The Neuroscience of Proactive Accountability. By leveraging what we know about the brain, we can move from trying to create accountability through directives and task lists, and instead focus on boosting an individual’s sense of ownership and responsibility.
