What Does It Take to Foster a “Culture of Responsibility” like the U.S. Army’s?

RP Members and Connections since we hit the subject of Culture today - let's see if this article makes a good case on what it takes to foster a "Culture of Responsibility" like the U.S. Army's

In many organizations, it is all too common to see coworkers throw one another under the bus. Some of us may have even engaged in some finger-pointing ourselves when a project went south, or when a big pitch landed with a thud. After all, nobody enjoys being perceived as a failure, even to herself.

But what if things were different? What would happen in an organization where employees, rather than racing to absolve themselves, jostled to take the blame?

On a recent trip to the U.S. Army’s National Training Center, Ned Smith, an associate professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School, was surprised to find just such an organization. In after-action reviews and debriefings, soldiers of every stripe, from privates to company commanders, stepped forward.

“It wouldn’t be much of an overstatement to say that they are almost competing to take the blame,” Smith says. “‘No, it was me…,’ ‘It was my guys,’ ‘No it was me,’” Smith says. “That’s not something you readily see in corporate America.”

How does a hierarchically structured organization like the military foster an environment where people are willing to take the fall when things go wrong? Smith and Col. Brian Halloran, recently a U.S. Army Chief of Staff senior fellow at Kellogg, discuss the unique advantages of a culture of responsibility and accountability—and how other hierarchical organizations might benefit.

“When a leader knows that what matters are the overall performance of the unit and the improvement of the unit as a whole, they are far more likely to openly discuss what didn’t go right.” —Col. Brian Halloran