Let’s examine the concept of individual responsibility and individual accountability.
They are essential for a centralised command-and-control hierarchy. While it is necessary for coercive management to be able to pin failure to meet outcomes on an individual, it is counterproductive to better ways of working.
It is remarkable how entrenched the concept is – it proves hard to shake off. Most managers will defend it strongly.
We can eliminate the “one throat to choke” rationale immediately as being punitive and therefore destroying psychological safety and any ability to learn from failure.
Perhaps the next strongest defence of individual accountability is the western concept of rugged individualism: that people need to step up, harden up, and take the load. There are multiple dangers here from individual burnout and destroyed self-esteem, to being left alone while others abdicate responsibility as somebody else’s problem.
Another argument is that if people are individually responsible they will be more focused on ensuring the outcome happens. While this is true, there is no mechanism to check that it remains an important outcome for the group. The person will be focused on it regardless. Nor is there any mechanism to ensure the cooperation, support, and resourcing from the group other than for the individual to demand or beg.
Finally, individual accountability provides a mechanism to measure the performance of the individual. But it is not a fair mechanism because no individual has complete control over an outcome that they are given to deliver. Therefore their success is a matter of luck. Which will result in them being incented to cheat, or to pursue the outcome to the detriment of others in the group.
In Open philosophy, we are striving to create a workplace that is collective and mutually supportive. When the group is responsible and accountable for outcomes then everybody shares the load. Goals are fluid and prioritised holistically as a portfolio. The group polices the individuals within it who choose not to contribute, and – more importantly – they carry and heal the people who are currently unable to contribute.