The Real Problem Isn't Accountability, It's Your Process

The Accountability Trap

I hear it all the time from business owners: "How do I hold my operations person more accountable?" or "How can I make sure my delivery team does what they say they'll do?"

When you dig into what this really means, it comes down to trust. You don't fully trust that the people doing the work are doing what they should be doing. And I get it, that's a real concern. But here's the thing, asking how to hold someone accountable is actually the wrong question.

What you're really after is execution. You want things to get done efficiently and consistently. That's your actual aim, and there's a much better way to get there.

Process Over People

Instead of asking "How do I hold so-and-so accountable?" ask "How do we execute better?" It's a subtle shift, but it changes everything.

The first question is about fixing a person. The second question is about improving a system. When you focus on process, you start asking the right questions: What method are we using? Who's involved? What's the timing between steps? What information needs to flow from one stage to the next?

Here's what I've learned from working with family businesses over the years. When an owner tells me someone isn't accountable, I go talk to that person. Ten times out of ten, I find they're being pulled in multiple directions. The owner asked them to do one thing, then 24 hours later asked them to do something completely different. There's no clear priority, no consistent process, just a lot of noise.

Consistency Isn't Rigidity

When you shift to thinking about process, you're looking for consistency in how work gets done. This doesn't mean being rigid or inflexible. Process is about creating predictable outcomes so you can learn and improve.

Take your sales process as an example. You might have years of experience and can write down a solid approach. But that's maybe 80% of the way there. Your team, your customers, your specific situation is unique. You need to execute that process, then be willing to experiment with it.

Try different messaging, different channels, different price points. When something doesn't work, that's not failure, that's learning. It's feedback that helps you adjust and optimize.

The Path Forward

The path to better execution is never one and done. Even when you figure it out, things change. Your customers evolve, the economy shifts, your industry transforms. You're constantly experimenting, adjusting, finding what's optimal for right now.

That's how you solve the accountability problem. You stop trying to fix people and start improving your processes. You create consistency, gather feedback, and keep learning. When you do that, execution takes care of itself.