Return of authoritarian culture LO11070

Rol Fessenden (76234.3636@CompuServe.COM)
19 Nov 96 22:42:50 EST

Replying to LO11064 --

Keith quotes someone

>>...Another example of authoritarian culture is the contemporary American
>>use of the word "accountability". Accountability, we are told, means
>>"accepting the consequences of your actions". Everyone is supposed >to
>"be accountable", and to embrace this condition as a concomitant of
>>responsible adulthood. Authority here is hidden through a grammatical
>>device....

and then responds,

== begin quote ==

I like to use the term "accountability" without regard to the object. In
other words, if I act in an accountable way, I can stand the scrutiny of
my actions and beliefs regardless of who may be viewing them (as long as
they are properly taken in context!). This gets around the necessity to
impute authority to the term.

Similarly, I distinguish "responsibility" as my being accountable for the
actions of others, again without regard to which authority may be the
object. This makes the terms richer and more personal in my world view.

== end quote ==

I resonate with keith's perspective.

I find that accepting and embracing accountability is freeing and
empowering. I choose what to be accountable for. I decide. This is not
a device for an outsider to stick something on me. I can make a
difference if I choose. I get to choose the field and the approach. A
wonderful feeling.

Authority rarely aver comes with accountability. That is a myth from the
early days of industrialization. The sooner that myth is understood, the
better you will feel about being accountable. No one actually has
authority to make specific things happen, because, as we all know, the
system is not really in anyone's control. Sure, I can make a trivial
event occur, but I cannot by myself, make the system do anything of
consequence unless I understand that I can only operate through the
cooperative participation of others. I can, nevertheless, hold myself
accountable.

-- 

Rol Fessenden LL Bean, Inc. 76234.3636@compuserve.com

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>