When things feel out of your control, when you’re dissatisfied with your life or work but don’t know how to fix it, it’s easy to give up, believing there’s no point in trying if you can’t change anything.
But you have more power to create change than you think. In The Oz Principle, the authors use the classic story of The Wizard of Oz to teach people—from individuals seeking to improve their personal lives to company leaders trying to push their teams to new heights—how to get what they want. The lesson of Dorothy’s quest is:
In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her companions travel the Yellow Brick Road in search of the Wizard. Each seeks something they believe the Wizard can provide: a way back home, courage, a heart, or a brain. To their dismay, they learn the Wizard is a fraud; there’s not a simple, magical solution to their problems. But it turns out they didn’t need the Wizard—they already had what they’d wished for.
The authors explain how to journey, like Dorothy, from a mindset of victimism to one of accountability. The Oz Principle is: To reach your goals, take initiative and assume accountability for your circumstances and your future.
(Shortform note: Viewing The Wizard of Oz as a tale about the journey from victimism to accountability isn’t the only, or even the most common, interpretation of this classic. Since its publication, both book and movie have inspired numerous allegorical interpretations. The most popular may be that Baum’s book is a political allegory for early 20th-century America.)
Authors Roger Connors and Tom Smith are founders of the consulting firm Partners in Leadership. They've worked with numerous businesses to improve cultures and practices around accountability. They argue that many of the most common problems that plague companies—low productivity, slow innovation, and poor morale—can be solved. But there aren’t any tricks or shortcuts. Working through those problems requires people to hold themselves accountable, first individually and then companywide.
Accountability is the bridge or behavior that moves you from victimism and failure to success. Thus, succeeding through accountability is the essence of “the Oz Principle.” (Shortform note: While many experts focus on skill, luck, and determination as the keys to success, accountability is often an underrated factor. However, accountability is arguably more important than these characteristics. In fact, the authors of The 4 Disciplines of Execution cite accountability as one of four essentials of successful execution (the others are focus, leverage, and engagement). Accountability in this formula takes the form of weekly sessions in which you review and account for your progress toward your goals.)
After introducing the problems posed by the victim mentality and explaining the difference between victim behaviors and accountability, The Oz Principle outlines four steps to becoming accountable and creating a culture of accountability in your organization: facing facts, admitting your role, taking responsibility, and taking action.
(Shortform note: Management literature often defines accountability as managers setting clear performance standards and holding employees to them—this five-step prescription is an example: Have difficult performance conversations, address poor performance as soon as possible, consider the employee’s feelings, set measurable goals, and follow up. However, The Oz Principle’s authors take a broader, transformative view of accountability encompassing personal and professional behavior by employees and leaders alike.)
Before we discuss the steps to accountability in detail, it’s important to explain what being a “victim” means in the context of “the Oz Principle” and what the consequences of victimhood are. The victim mentality encompasses a variety of behaviors and thought patterns that keep you trapped, disempowered, and unable to realize your potential. They prevent you from taking advantage of opportunities to learn and grow.
The authors explain that victim behaviors are usually passive and/or selfish. (Shortform note: The essence of both is that they’re reactive, in contrast to accountability, which is proactive.)
You may be acting from a victim mentality without being aware of it. Here are the common passive and/or selfish behaviors indicating you’re stuck:
(Shortform note: These behaviors are basically opposites of the authors’ four steps to accountability: face facts, admit your role, take responsibility for solving the problem, and take action.)
The Oz Principle’s authors note that to a point, victim behaviors are understandable—in fact, they can be comforting, like a security blanket, because you’re avoiding the risks of responsibility. But they prevent you from maximizing your potential and creating a fulfilling life. By recognizing these behaviors in yourself, you can begin to let them go and focus on more productive actions. Solving problems, improving your circumstances, and getting closer to your goals will ultimately feel better than the security of victimism.
(Shortform note: Besides security, other reasons people play the victim include getting attention, gaining control or influence over others’ feelings and actions, or as a way to cope with a difficult situation.)
How Other Authors Describe a Victim Mentality
Other popular authors also address signs of having a victim mentality, but with some additional nuances not addressed by The Oz Principle.
In Daring Greatly, Brené Brown discusses the victim mentality as a contrast to what she calls the “Viking mentality.” Essentially, both "Vikings" (people who use aggression and power to present the image that they're always in control) and "victims" (people who always feel and believe themselves to be inherently weak or powerless) are each limiting themselves in their own way. They're not engaging with their own vulnerability in ways that allow them to grow from it. Brown acknowledges that these mindsets often arise due to trauma, but she argues that it’s a mistake when “Vikings” and “victims” blame continued hardship solely on the past trauma and not at all on the unhealthy mentality they’ve developed since.
In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson discusses "perpetual victims," those who view themselves as uniquely helpless or powerless to solve their own problems. He characterizes perpetual victims as selfish, prone to overreacting, and likely to blame other people or factors out of their control for the problems they’re facing. Like the authors of The Oz Principle, Manson emphasizes the importance of taking charge of your circumstances and focusing on the things you can control, including how you feel, how you react, and what actions you take in response.
All three of these texts portray victim mentalities as self-imposed and as a barrier to a fulfilling life. They also all acknowledge the ways that outside factors (such as trauma) can send you down a path of developing a victim mentality, but they assert the importance of recognizing these self-sabotaging thoughts and behaviors and overcoming them.
Overemphasis on the Victim Mentality Can Lead to Victim Blaming
Although most of The Oz Principle discusses victimism as a mentality to be overcome, the authors occasionally acknowledge that some people are victims due to circumstances beyond their control. The authors don’t dwell on that point beyond reasserting that how you respond to your circumstances is still up to you, which is in line with the overall accountability message of the book.
However, attributing all problems to a victim mentality can become unfair and unproductive victim-blaming, which plays a role in public discussions of many hot button topics. Victim blaming is blaming a crime or a circumstance on the victim rather than the perpetrator. This idea came up in the context of the #MeToo movement, which spotlighted the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment in various industries and in society generally. Some victims who had delayed reporting their assaults did so for fear of being blamed (or blaming themselves) for what happened to them—for instance, for drinking alcohol or dressing a certain way.
Accountability is the solution to the problems created by the victim mentality. Accountability means owning your circumstances by identifying how your actions contributed to them and how your actions affect what happens to you next.
Being proactive and taking responsibility are elements of accountability. It’s ultimately about being in control of your life, as much as possible, rather than allowing yourself to be controlled by external forces. When you’re accountable, you’re an active player in your life, effecting change in the world around you.
With that definition of accountability, we’ll next discuss how to practice accountability. The Oz Principle lays out four steps.
You can't have accountability if you don't face the facts of a situation—that is, if you don’t confront reality. Reality encompasses three elements:
The authors note that facing reality is difficult, in part, because it’s inconvenient. But confronting inconvenient truths pays off in improved relationships, career advancement, a more successful business, and a better life. The rewards are far greater, in the long run, than the false security that comes with hiding from your problems.
(Shortform note: In Principles, Ray Dalio adds that a primary benefit of embracing reality and relentlessly pursuing the truth is improving yourself—for instance, by learning from your mistakes—which he calls life’s greatest reward because it’s so fulfilling.)
Once you’ve faced the facts of your situation, The Oz Principle’s next step toward accountability is to “own” your situation by acknowledging that you’re not only a victim of circumstance, but that you contributed to those circumstances. While this is uncomfortable, the authors point out that it comes with a benefit: Once you realize you had a hand in creating the problem, it’s easier to see how you can create the solution; it’s a way of taking back power.
The authors offer several techniques to help you see patterns of thinking and behavior that are holding you back from acknowledging your role:
When you recognize a problem, you may be inclined to step aside and let someone else take care of it. But if you recognize the problem but don’t solve it, it’s likely to get worse. Being accountable requires being a problem-solver. The authors give this advice for solving problems:
Tips for Getting Started
Solving problems starts with the right mindset. Here are some tips from other authors on how to approach problem-solving:
Schedule time: In Emotional Intelligence 2.0, authors Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves recommend dedicating regular time to problem-solving as a tactic of self-management, because it’s difficult in a busy life to find time to think through decisions before making them. Schedule 15 minutes a day to walk away from your work and problem-solve particular issues. This will help you to make clearer choices and ensure that your feelings aren’t skewing your decision-making process.
Accept struggle: In Ultralearning, Scott Young recommends letting yourself struggle with problems. While he’s referring to the process of learning, his advice applies to problem-solving more generally as well: Force yourself to struggle when you encounter a difficult problem or obstacle when trying to learn something. Most problems can be solved with enough thought and effort, and deliberate struggle creates deeper understanding of the problem and builds resilience, leading to more efficient problem-solving later. Encourage this by setting a timer for 10-15 minutes and pushing yourself to work on the problem at least until the timer goes off.
Ask this question: Finally, in 12 Rules for Life, psychologist Jordan Peterson advises: Before blaming anyone else for a problem, you should be able to answer yes to the question, “Have I done everything within my ability to solve the problem?”
Of course, when you’re trying to solve a problem, you’ll inevitably run into roadblocks. You might get discouraged and revert to unproductive patterns of thinking. Instead, mentally brace yourself for things to get tough. Try to predict what setbacks you might encounter, and prepare for them if possible.
(Shortform note: Following is a planning strategy for businesses to anticipate and prepare for problems; the same type of thinking can work for individuals too. Regularly brainstorm with your team to identify events or conditions that could upend your business. Identify early indicators of each event or condition, and determine what actions you would need to take in response, such as workarounds. Engage your up-and-coming leaders in “scenario thinking,” or imagining a range of problem scenarios and responses. Compile the scenarios and responses in a manual.)
The fourth step in The Oz Principle’s journey is staying committed and following through with action.
Even when you know the solution, you may still have a hard time executing it—or you may start but give up when you encounter a problem. However, a commitment to accountability means not letting obstacles stop you, or letting momentary success or luck make you complacent.
The authors recommend the following techniques and attitudes to ensure you get the job done:
Use Psychology to Stay on Track
Even when you follow the authors’ advice, you may find it hard to stay committed. When desire and willpower aren’t enough, a Psychology Today article recommends:
Visualize the benefits of following through and the downsides of not following through.
Remind yourself that you’re doing the right thing.
Accept that not everything is fun.
Tell others about your commitment, so you’ll be less likely to renege.
Imagine feeling guilty and embarrassed about not following through.
Keep track of milestones.
The authors emphasize the importance of not only individual accountability, but also joint accountability. In any group that’s working toward a shared goal—a sports team, students submitting a group project, or employees at a company—you succeed or fail together.
To help people look beyond their basic job responsibilities and think about the things for which they share accountability with others, the authors recommend that leaders emphasize results. Make it clear to employees what specific results you’re looking for. Identify the numbers you’ll need to see to know that you’ve succeeded. To score a goal, employees have to be able to see the goalposts.
(Shortform note: In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni asserts that by having tangible measures of success, teams are better able to attract and retain achievement-oriented employees. Also, it’s easier to evaluate performance, and a focus on results avoids the distraction and waste of energy occurring when team members pursue individual agendas at the expense of the team.)
Once you’ve established the need to get results, defined the results you’re after, and explained how you’ll measure them, you’ll then have to motivate your team to focus on results.
(Shortform note: On their Partners in Leadership website, the authors of The Oz Principle provide an interactive tool called the Propeller, which helps leaders and their teams focus, communicate and track key results, as well as build empowerment and ownership. As one aspect of the platform, team members each create a personal impact statement of how their role and duties contribute to achieving specific results; everyone can see everyone else’s impact statement to see how roles work together. A sense of empowerment increases team members’ motivation.)
The authors cite rewards as a valuable motivational tool, even if they’re purely symbolic, like getting a gold star on your homework in school. Give people gold stars in the form of praise and recognition, as well as substantive rewards such as commissions, bonuses, and so on. Some companies offer equity, knowing that employees who own a piece of the company are invested in the whole, not just in their own job. (Shortform note: If team-based rewards aren’t structured carefully, so that they’re clear and equitable, human resources experts caution that they can undermine individual initiative, trust, and therefore team success.)
Once you understand the building blocks of an organization-wide culture of accountability, The Oz Principle recommends these steps to become the kind of leader who can create that culture:
While accountability is a choice that every employee has to make, you can create conditions within your organization that ensure people make that choice:
1) Train everyone in accountability. Discuss the behaviors of accountable people versus victims. Share personal anecdotes of times you fell into a victim mindset and how you overcame it. Giving concrete examples will help people self-reflect and apply the ideas to their own lives. (Shortform note: Inc. magazine cites the following “8 habits of highly accountable people”: Take responsibility, don’t make excuses, be on time, control your own fate, own your emotions, communicate expectations, collaborate, and don’t expect praise—take satisfaction in accomplishment.)
2) Coach employees through the process of forming good habits around accountability. Coaching people is different from controlling them. Instead of telling someone what to do, ask them what they think they should do. Give them the opportunity to make decisions and solve problems, because that will help them form good habits around accountability. It also requires them to take responsibility for their own work, rather than only taking orders (thus leaving the responsibility with whoever’s directing them).
(Shortform note: To further clarify the difference between coaching and controlling (or managing), a Forbes article describes coaching as involving exploring, facilitating, partnering, encouraging ongoing improvement, and opening the door to multiple potential outcomes. In contrast, managing involves ordering, directing, meeting immediate needs, and producing a specific outcome. This chart shows additional differences in coaching mindset and behavior.)
3) Help your team maintain a positive and productive attitude by asking questions that guide them toward an accountability mindset. The key question the authors of The Oz Principle recommend asking is, “What else can I do?” This focuses people’s thinking on making progress and on how they can influence the situation.
Accountability Questions
Another way to build a personal and organizational accountability habit is to ask yourself these questions weekly:
Rate the past week on a scale of 1-10 (10 being fantastic).
What was your biggest priority?
Did you accomplish it, and if not, why not?
What did you learn last week?
What were your biggest highlight and biggest obstacle?
What needs to happen to make this week a success?
4) Reinforce accountability behaviors so that they become habits. (Shortform note: Similarly, The Coaching Habit recommends taking advantage of daily coaching opportunities. For example, if an employee sends you a long email about a problem, respond by asking, “Before I send you a detailed reply, can you tell me what the central challenge is for you?”)
5) Finally, keep track of everyone’s progress. An accountability mindset, or lack thereof, will be evident in their work. If they falter, offer constructive feedback. If they’re succeeding, offer recognition and praise. In general, if you’re a leader, try to be present and visible.
(Shortform note: In Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work, Paul Marciano notes that managers tend to overestimate how much recognition they give. But recognition is a key part of a leader’s job, because quick recognition of positive behavior locks in that behavior while failure to reinforce it makes it less likely to be repeated. Further, a minute spent complimenting someone’s work can lead to hours of increased productivity.)
Many people fail to own their actions and results, especially at work, where it’s easy to shift blame and succumb to a victim mentality. But in The Oz Principle, authors Roger Connors, Tom Smith, and Craig Hickman use the story of The Wizard of Oz to show how being accountable for your successes and challenges is the key to improving results on both an individual and organizational level.
Roger Connors and Tom Smith are the founders of the consulting firm Partners in Leadership. They've worked with numerous companies to improve cultures and practices around accountability, and The Oz Principle contains many anecdotes about how their clients overcame workplace issues. They co-authored two other New York Times bestselling management books: How Did That Happen? and Change the Culture, Change the Game.
The third author, Craig Hickman, is a prolific writer as well; his works include Creating Excellence, Results Revolution, and other nonfiction titles, but he also delved into thrillers with The Insiders and its sequel. He's a regional vice president at Partners in Leadership and was previously the CEO of Headwaters Technology Innovation Group.
Connect with Craig Hickman:
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The Oz Principle was first published in 1994 by Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Random House. According to PRH, it has sold almost 600,000 copies; a revised version was released in 2004, 10 years after its initial publication. The updated version includes a preface and an acknowledgements page thanking the readers who helped The Oz Principle succeed.
According to Partners in Leadership, The Oz Principle was a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Publisher's Weekly bestseller, and the president and publisher at Portfolio described it in 2009 as among their top five bestselling books in the Leadership and Performance categories, year after year, since 1994. Companies conduct workshops based on the book’s ideas, and universities teach it in business courses.
Critical reviews state that the book is repetitive, and that its message is too simple. Some people feel the book could have been much shorter, that it’s boring, that there are too many examples, and that its advice isn't specific enough. Lastly, some reviews characterize The Oz Principle as, essentially, corporate propaganda designed to convince employees to take the blame for any unhappiness they feel at work rather than criticizing the failings of their supervisors and their company’s culture. However, other readers find the book's ideas empowering, logical, and easy to understand. They like that the principles were relevant to all parts of their lives, not just work.
Both the critical and positive reviews raise valid points; the book is repetitive, but many people find its ideas clear and relevant to their lives.
The Oz Principle is split into three parts—the first introduces the problem (having a victim mentality), the second offers guidelines for addressing it, and the third provides suggestions for applying those solutions on an organizational scale. Anecdotes about the trials and triumphs of various companies, some of which the authors worked with and others they didn’t, make up the bulk of the book’s content.
The inclusion of client anecdotes, with frequent emphasis on how The Oz Principle’s ideas enabled them to overcome their problems, at times make the book sound like an advertisement for itself. However, the anecdotes illustrate the book’s sometimes abstract ideas.
This guide breaks down the authors' ideas on individual and organizational accountability and explains how they compare with other literature on subjects related to psychology and business development.
We’ve omitted the anecdotes used by the authors and focused on drawing out the central points of each chapter; from there, we’ve fleshed out those points by linking them to other sources, including books, articles, and academic research.
The Oz Principle’s points are sometimes abstract; for example, the book discusses the importance of being a problem-solver, but its suggestions about how to become a problem-solver are vague. To that section, we’ve added techniques to help bolster your problem-solving skills. The Oz Principle’s discussion of topics such as “victimhood” and “accountability” is narrow, as the text focuses almost exclusively on how these concepts relate to business and being an employee. We’ve added context to help you reflect on how you can apply The Oz Principle’s points to other parts of your life, and to provide you with a more complete understanding of the complexity of these topics.
For logic, we’ve grouped related chapters together. We’ve also moved a section on joint accountability from part 1 to part 3, which focuses on creating a culture of accountability within an organization, as this seemed a more natural place for it.
The Oz Principle opens with a big-picture view of the core ideas, which essentially boil down to this: You have the power to make your life better, even when you may think that you don’t. From there, we’ll discuss how a victim mentality might be holding you back and how accepting the authors’ definition of accountability instead can empower you.
The authors use the story of The Wizard of Oz to teach people—from individuals seeking to improve their personal lives to company leaders trying to push their teams to new heights—how to get what they want. The lesson from The Wizard of Oz is:
The Oz Principle lays out a journey from a mindset of victimism to one of accountability. The authors argue that the most common problems that plague companies—low productivity, slow innovation, and poor morale—can be solved. But there aren’t any tricks or shortcuts. Working through those problems requires people to take responsibility and hold themselves accountable, individually and then companywide.
Accountability is the bridge or behavior that moves you from victimism and failure to success. Thus, succeeding through accountability is “the Oz Principle.”
(Shortform note: While many experts focus on skill, luck, and determination as the keys to success, accountability is often an underrated factor. However, accountability is arguably more important than these characteristics. In fact, the authors of The 4 Disciplines of Execution cite accountability as one of four essentials for successful execution (the others are focus, leverage, and engagement). Accountability in this formula takes the form of weekly sessions in which you review and account for your progress toward your goals.)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, published in 1900, is one of the quintessential “quest” texts in the literary canon, though most people probably know it from the 1939 movie starring Judy Garland. The authors use the story to illustrate their principles of accountability.
After a tornado transports Dorothy from Kansas to Oz, she travels the Yellow Brick Road with three companions in search of the Wizard, who they hope will help them. In The Oz Principle, the authors liken their steps to accountability to Dorothy’s journey.
The companions learn that the Wizard is a fraud; there’s no simple, magical solution to their problems. But it turns out they didn’t need the Wizard—they each already had what they’d wished for. For instance, the Cowardly Lion frequently showed courage in the face of danger; he was already brave. And Dorothy needed only to click her heels together to activate the magic that would take her home.
The Political Symbolism of The Wizard of Oz
Viewing The Wizard of Oz as a tale about the journey from victimism to accountability isn’t the only, or even the most common, interpretation of this classic. Since its publication, both book and movie have inspired numerous allegorical interpretations.
The most popular may be that Baum’s book is a political allegory for early 20th-century America. The plot apparently represents the bimetallism debate raging in the U.S. just before the book’s publication: In 1896, Democrats and Populists, represented by William Jennings Bryan, argued for a currency backed by both gold and silver, whereas the Republican Party and their leader, William McKinley, favored gold-only currency. Baum, a staunch Republican, is believed to have favored the gold standard. (McKinley won the presidential election, and the gold standard was used until FDR’s New Deal program in 1934.)
The characters represent key players in the debate:
Dorothy stands in for middle America (and its virtue), the “everyman” who’s been led astray.
The Cowardly Lion represents Democrat William Jennings Bryan.
The Tin Man represents industry.
The Scarecrow represents agriculture and the challenges farmers faced in the late 19th century.
The yellow brick road stands in for the gold standard, and Dorothy’s silver slippers, taken from the Wicked Witch of the East (they became ruby slippers in the film), represent the silver standard. “Oz” is thought to derive its name from the abbreviation for “ounces,” as in “ounces of gold and silver.”
However, other analysts have used the same narrative details to come to almost completely opposite interpretations.
First, we’ll discuss what being a “victim” means in the context of “the Oz Principle,” and what the consequences of victimhood are. The authors contend that being stuck in a victim cycle or mentality is the opposite of being accountable.
The victim mentality encompasses behaviors and thought patterns that keep you trapped, disempowered, and unable to realize your potential. They prevent you from taking advantage of opportunities to learn and grow.
That said, you really can be a victim of circumstance or other people’s mistreatment at times. No matter what happens, the authors argue that there are almost always ways you can act to make your situation better. (Shortform note: There’s a difference between playing the victim and being a target at work. Some employees are targets of bullying by a coworker or a group (called mobbing), but targeted individuals often have a choice in how they respond.)
The authors divide typical victim behaviors into two categories: passivity and selfishness. (Shortform note: The essence of both is that they’re reactive, in contrast to accountability, which is proactive.)
This category includes:
We see these behaviors everywhere—in individuals, within companies, and even on a larger, national scale. Consider the issue of climate change: Many people ignore it, deny its existence, pretend it doesn’t and won’t affect them, or claim it will fix itself over time. But none of those approaches will resolve the problem.
(Shortform note: Passive behavior, which causes you to feel stuck at work so you complain rather than acting, may stem from a lack of energy and motivation, a lack of goals, or analysis paralysis. Alternatively, you may be passive simply because you haven’t learned assertiveness, not because you want to duck accountability. Either way, it doesn’t help you or your company succeed.)
The second category of victim behavior includes:
By blaming others rather than considering how your actions (or inaction) played a part in the failure, you're unlikely to learn, and you set yourself up to miss future problems as well. People who avoid accountability end up feeling powerless and losing motivation, which makes it even harder to move from failure to success.
(Shortform note: Similarly, a Harvard Business Review article also notes that shifting blame erodes your credibility and performance. To keep blame from spreading, the authors recommend that you: Resist blaming others, only blame constructively with the goal of learning, own failures, always focus on learning, and reward people for making mistakes that teach valuable lessons. Rather than blaming, sales trainer Grant Cardone recommends assuming “radical control” of your circumstances even when you’re not at fault, because when you assume a victim role, you give up your power to effect change.)
Differentiating Between a Victim Mentality and Victimization
The Oz Principle’s “victimhood” aligns with what other people refer to as a victim mentality: when you view yourself as a permanent victim, blaming every negative thing in your life on the actions of others. Usually, a victim mentality describes someone who consistently, repeatedly refuses to take responsibility for their actions, or exaggerates their suffering to gain sympathy. A key distinction is that a victim mentality refers only to people falsely claiming to be victims, not someone who has experienced a crime or disaster; you can suffer real hardships, literally becoming a victim, and not wind up exhibiting a victim mentality.
Scientific American’s “Unraveling the Mindset of Victimhood” gives an overview of psychological and clinical research on the victim mentality (or "interpersonal victimhood"), discussing its signs and consequences. For example, the article cites clinical research that observed four key components of interpersonal victimhood: wanting to be viewed as a victim, moral superiority, a lack of empathy for others, and dwelling on the past.
Another word for having a victim mentality is victimism—not to be confused with victimization, which refers to the process of becoming a victim.
Unlike typical characterizations of the victim mentality, The Oz Principle’s take on victims/victimhood is a narrow one, because this book is serving a specific purpose: to help individuals and organizations overcome work-related problems. Consequently, the book doesn’t always convey the complexities of distinguishing victimism from victimization. In real life, there are times when “passive” and “selfish” behaviors are the best course of action—or they’re your only option.
For example, in an organization where people are reprimanded for not following instructions or acting outside the boundaries of their specific role, you’re more likely to be “passive” rather than proactive for fear of losing your job. Likewise, keeping a written record of events and saving emails so you can defend yourself from potential blame—viewed by the authors as selfish or victim behavior—allows you to avoid being taken advantage of. The Oz Principle can come off as unempathetic to employees who may be dealing with truly toxic work environments.
You may be acting from a victim mentality without being aware of it. Here are the common passive and/or selfish behaviors indicating you’re stuck:
(Shortform note: These behaviors are basically opposites of the authors’ four steps to accountability: face facts, admit your role, take responsibility for solving the problem, and take action.)
How Other Authors Describe a Victim Mentality
Other popular authors also address signs of having a victim mentality, but with some additional nuances not addressed by The Oz Principle.
Brené Brown’s take in Daring Greatly is unique in that, in addition to discussing people with victim mentalities, she addresses the other extreme, people who never admit to being powerless. She calls this mindset the “Viking mentality.” Essentially, both "Vikings" (people who use aggression and power to present the image that they're always in control) and "victims" (people who always feel and believe themselves to be inherently weak or powerless) are each limiting themselves in their own way. They're not engaging with their own vulnerability in ways that allow them to grow from it. Brown acknowledges that these mindsets often arise due to trauma, but she argues that it’s a mistake when “Vikings” and “victims” blame continued hardship solely on the past trauma and not at all on the unhealthy mentality they’ve developed since.
In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson underscores the ceaseless nature of victimism with his term "perpetual victims," those who view themselves as uniquely helpless or powerless to solve their own problems. He characterizes perpetual victims as selfish, prone to overreacting, and likely to blame other people or factors out of their control for the problems they’re facing. Like the authors of The Oz Principle, Manson emphasizes the importance of taking charge of your circumstances and focusing on the things you can control, including how you feel, how you react, and what actions you take in response.
All three of these texts portray victim mentalities as self-imposed, and as a barrier to leading your best possible life. They also all acknowledge the ways that outside factors (such as trauma) can send you down a path of developing a victim mentality, but they assert the importance of recognizing these self-sabotaging thoughts and behaviors and overcoming them.
The Oz Principle’s authors note that to a point, victim behaviors are understandable—in fact, they can be comforting, like a security blanket, because you’re avoiding the risks of responsibility. But they prevent you from maximizing your potential and creating a fulfilling life. By recognizing these behaviors in yourself, you can begin to let them go and focus on more productive actions. Solving problems, improving your circumstances, and getting closer to your goals will ultimately feel better than the security of victimism.
(Shortform note: Besides security, other reasons people play the victim include getting attention, gaining control or influence over others’ feelings and actions, or as a way to cope with a difficult situation. However, if your victim behaviors stem from past trauma, you may need professional help because feeling helpless to change your circumstances can lead to depression, relationship problems, and many physical and emotional symptoms.)
Overemphasis on the Victim Mentality Can Lead to Victim Blaming
Although most of The Oz Principle discusses victimism as a mentality to be overcome, the authors occasionally acknowledge that some people are victims due to circumstances beyond their control. The authors don’t dwell on that point much beyond reasserting that how you respond to your circumstances is still up to you, which is in line with the overall accountability message of the book.
However, attributing all problems to a victim mentality can become unfair and unproductive victim-blaming, which plays a role in public discussions of many hot button topics. Victim blaming is blaming a crime or a circumstance on the victim rather than the perpetrator. This idea came up in the context of the #MeToo movement, which spotlighted the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment in various industries and in society generally. Some victims who had delayed reporting their assaults did so for fear of being blamed (or blaming themselves) for what happened to them—for instance, for drinking alcohol or dressing a certain way.
A 1971 book, Blaming the Victim by William Ryan, popularized the term. Ryan discussed victim-blaming in the context of race and poverty, citing structural inequities that keep some groups powerless and critiquing a mindset suggesting that if these people only tried harder, they could overcome their obstacles.
Why We Blame Victims
Researchers say we tend to blame victims because of a “just-world bias”—that is, we prefer to see the world as just and fair and to believe that all will turn out well if we do certain things. Therefore, we react harshly toward people in trouble, rationalizing what happened to them by blaming them for not doing what they should have.
A Nuanced View: Victims’ Behavior Matters
Nonetheless, a psychologist writing in Psychology Today argues that while assigning moral and legal blame to the perpetrator, it can also be valuable to examine the victim’s behavior—for instance, in order to improve crime prevention and treatment of victims. This view avoids victim-blaming while aligning with The Oz Principle’s view of accountability for future action (discussed in the next section).
Most people have a negative—and incomplete—definition of accountability, one synonymous with fault. As a result, people resist the idea of being accountable because that’s like saying (as in victim-blaming) that you’re to blame for whatever goes wrong.
However, The Oz Principle defines accountability differently. Accountability means taking ownership of your circumstances by identifying how your actions contributed to them—and how your actions affect what happens to you next. Put another way, it’s taking responsibility and being proactive.
(Shortform note: In The 10X Rule, Grant Cardone argues that to be extraordinarily successful, you must take full responsibility for whatever happens in your life, even negative things like being in a car crash or having your identity stolen. Claiming responsibility for both the good and bad empowers you to act for better future outcomes. For instance, to reduce the future risk of a car accident, you could avoid peak traffic times or start a trip earlier so you don’t have to rush to your destination.)
The authors of The Oz Principle note that this philosophy is a more forward-thinking, constructive view of accountability than the typical reactive focus on fault. Owning failures allows you to act to not only avoid future problems, but also to create and own your future successes.
Accountability and Agency
The Oz Principle’s idea of accountability is similar to the sociological concept of agency. Sociologist Nicki Lisa Cole describes it as "the power people have to think for themselves and act in ways that shape their experiences and life trajectories."
In The 12 Week Year, author and consultant Brian P. Moran similarly describes accountability as personal action. You hold yourself accountable when you make the choice to do what is needed. When you do something because you choose to do it rather than because you have to, you're more empowered to perform the task to the best of your ability. Moran says that when you realize your choices create your path to success, you’ll see greater possibilities for your future and gain the courage to try new things to bring them to fruition.
In contrast to passive and selfish behaviors, the authors say that the following accountability behaviors will push you across the bridge from victimism to success:
These behaviors comprise The Oz Principle’s four steps to accountability, which we’ll discuss in the next chapters. (Shortform note: In addition to these steps, other authors stress the need to make accountability a habit. However, this may require changing other habits—for example, to be accountable for consistently making it to work on time, you may need to wake up earlier and do fewer early morning chores, requiring you to do your chores in the evening and go to bed earlier. To help you form and stick with new habits, find an accountability partner.)
Surround Yourself With Accountable People
In The 12 Week Year, Brian Moran more generally cites four ways to develop accountability in your personal life. The first two, don’t be a victim and don’t complain, echo The Oz Principle. The third—change your behavior—stresses that to change your life, you can’t keep doing the same things, but must change your habits and behaviors so you can make choices that create better outcomes. The fourth—surround yourself with accountable people—advises associating with people who provide an example and inspiration by owning their destinies. In contrast, being around negative people who blame the world for their problems will rub off on you, and you won’t accomplish anything.
In addition, Moran offers three tips to stay accountable, which align with The Oz Principle’s four steps:
Be completely honest about how your choices affect your life.
Look inside to find the answers you need to act.
Own your choices by focusing only on things you can control.
Before you can learn to hold yourself accountable, take a moment to identify areas of your life that could use improvement. Chances are, there are problems you’ve yet to acknowledge or opportunities to be more proactive than you’ve been in the past.
What is your least favorite part of your job, and why?
What are three actions you could take to improve that part of your job, or at least lessen the amount of time you have to spend on it?
Pick one of those actions. Below, make a plan: Write down all the steps involved, how long you think it will take, and when you can start working on it. By visualizing it and putting it into words, you put yourself on a path to success; you begin to make a commitment and take accountability for improving your life.
After defining accountability, the authors explain how to practice accountability in your daily life by following four steps that constitute a journey like Dorothy’s in The Wizard of Oz. The first steps are:
Chapters 4-5 discuss the importance of acknowledging the problem and figuring out the root causes, then examining how your actions (or inaction) played a role—because even if the situation was caused by forces out of your control, you’ll likely be able to identify a few things you could’ve done differently concerning the things you could control.
You can't have accountability if you don't face the facts of a situation—that is, if you don’t confront reality. The authors contend that facing facts or reality entails dealing with three elements:
People often try to carry on as usual when circumstances have changed. It’s irrational, but it’s something we’re all prone to doing. Don’t get stuck in that rut; face the problem and think about how you’re going to adapt. For example, the arrival of a new competitor in your industry might mean your company has to come up with creative ways to stay relevant. Or a loud new neighbor moving in might mean you have to invest in earplugs if you want to sleep through the night.
Face the Inevitability of Change
Who Moved My Cheese, a best-selling parable about mice whose cheese stockpile disappears, addresses the personal challenges of acknowledging and adapting to changed circumstances and remaining adaptable in the future. The book outlines four steps for facing change:
Realize it’s inevitable. Anticipate it and look for signs that it’s coming.
When change happens, overcome your fears, most of which are exaggerated, and move quickly to adapt.
Learn to enjoy change: Learning and experiencing new things is rewarding. Taking control of your situation is empowering.
Expect and prepare for further, ongoing change.
Sometimes you’ll disagree with another person’s read of a situation, but their opinion has a real impact on you, so you have to make space for it. In your professional life, that person might be your boss or a client; in your personal life, they might be a partner, a child, a relative, or a friend.
For example, if your partner’s version of reality is that you’re not communicative enough, it’s not sufficient to say, “That’s not true,” even if you really believe they’re wrong. You have to confront those feelings and find a way to work it out if you want the relationship to continue—whether that means discussing your communication styles, compromising, or making an effort to change.
(Shortform note: Rather than denying the reality, you can change your behavior plus others’ perceptions of you with three steps: 1) Get more feedback (ask about the impact of your behavior and how you can do things differently); 2) Explain your intentions or the reasons behind your behavior; and 3) Ask others how you’re doing on improving.)
Be honest with yourself about mistakes you’ve made in the past and areas where you could improve. No one likes feeling as if they’ve done something wrong. It’s easier to push the blame onto someone else, and we have an arsenal of excuses and rationalizations that enable us to do that, telling ourselves: They’re biased, they don’t understand us, they’re not treating us fairly. It feels like a form of self-protection, but it’s actually self-destructive.
For example, if your manager gives you a harsh performance review, your knee-jerk reaction might be denial: They’re biased, you might tell yourself, or they’re treating you unfairly. There may be some truth to those rationalizations, but you’ll benefit more from asking yourself: What if my manager is right? What specifically did they notice me doing—or not doing—that could have contributed to the review they gave me? That line of thinking might help you improve your work and your next review.
(Shortform note: Thanks for the Feedback offers advice on reducing your resistance to feedback by controlling your emotional triggers, or negative, knee-jerk reactions. In addition, the author suggests steps for incorporating feedback—for instance, make it less daunting by focusing on just one aspect at a time and trying out a small change. We’ll discuss feedback further in accountability step 2: Admit your role.)
What Prevents Us From Facing Reality?
The Oz Principle is far from the only text that points out how our biases affect the way we perceive and process events. We discuss others that touch on the subject (such as Thinking in Bets and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) elsewhere in this guide. Here are some of the specific ways that this perception-influencing bias can manifest.
Rationalization: when you use logical explanations (or explanations that sound logical on the surface) to justify thoughts, feelings, or behaviors, often to avoid an inconvenient or unpleasant truth. For example, you might tell yourself that you’re canceling plans because you’ve been feeling under the weather, when you just want to binge the newest season of your favorite Netflix show.
Motivated reasoning: when you're more likely to believe information or arguments that support beliefs you already hold and doubt information that contradicts those existing beliefs. Because you want to be right, you’re skeptical and distrustful of anything that runs counter to the way you think. This tendency can make it difficult to change your mind. A related phenomenon is confirmation bias, which is when you notice and remember information that supports your beliefs and gloss over what doesn’t.
Representativeness heuristic: when you think something is more likely to be true because of its similarity to past events or things you already know. This tendency can affect your decisions and can cause you to judge other people based on stereotypes.
Ego and Blind Spots
In Principles, Ray Dalio identifies two barriers to facing—and embracing—reality: 1) Ego (your desire to feel and be seen as capable), and 2) Blind spots where your biases keep you from seeing the world as it is. The antidote, he says, is radical open-mindedness, which (echoing The Oz Principle) includes accepting accountability for your mistakes.
Facing reality is difficult, in part, because it’s inconvenient. It can mean realizing you’ve got a lot of hard work to do, whether that means rethinking everything about how you communicate with your loved ones or changing a business model in order to keep up with a swiftly rising competitor. It’s a lot easier to pretend the problem doesn’t exist ... until it’s grown into a disaster.
But confronting inconvenient truths ultimately pays off. Your reward is in improved relationships, career advancement, a more successful business, and a better life. You’ll find that those rewards are far greater, in the long run, than the false security that comes with hiding from your problems.
(Shortform note: In Principles, Ray Dalio adds that a primary benefit of embracing reality and relentlessly pursuing the truth is improving yourself—for instance, by learning from your mistakes—which he calls life’s greatest reward because it’s so fulfilling.)
Once you’ve faced the facts of your situation, The Oz Principle’s next step toward accountability is to “own” your situation by acknowledging that you’re not only a victim of circumstance, but that you contributed to those circumstances. While this is uncomfortable, the authors point out that it comes with a benefit: Once you realize you had a hand in creating the problem, it’s easier to see how you can create the solution; it’s a way of taking back power.
Example: Learning From Experience
You’ve probably had an experience where you dealt with a problem but didn’t reflect on how your actions, not just external forces, put you in that situation. So, it happened again.
For example, imagine that a friend proposed taking a trip together and you accepted. But you soon remembered why you and your friend never travel together: He left it to you to take care of everything—where to stay, what to do, how to get around. You spent the trip feeling annoyed and taken advantage of.
When you vented to your sister afterward, she reminded you of the trip you took with your friend after you both graduated from college. He behaved the same way then, too, leaving all the decisions to you. So the latest problems shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
Taking Control of the Narrative
Undoubtedly, your friend treated you unfairly in using you as a free tour guide. But being called out by your sister made you realize how you let yourself down, too:
You didn’t learn from the past.
You didn’t take steps to avoid trouble—for instance, working with him to create an itinerary in advance to establish mutual responsibility.
By reflecting on where you fell short, you took back power. Owning up to the ways you partially created your problem revealed that you have the ability to learn and prevent the same issue in the future.
Questions you can ask to learn from your experience or to help someone else learn from theirs include:
What am I realizing about myself and my situation?
What does this experience mean to me and about me?
What new awareness have I gained?
What principles can I draw from this experience?
How does my perspective need to shift?
What will I do differently next time and why?
What can I improve?
How must I change to confront this situation in the future?
The authors offer several techniques to help you see patterns of thinking and behavior that are holding you back from acknowledging your role:
Ask yourself, based on prior experiences:
(Shortform note: On their website, The Oz Principle authors also offer this expanded 10-question self-assessment. Or, you can try this true-false victim mentality quiz from a counseling service.) This kind of reflection will help you gauge how often you have thoughts that make you a victim, and how much work you’ll have to do to create a mindset of accountability.
If you have doubts or concerns about a situation, pay attention to those feelings; investigate them more deeply. In your professional life, you might make time to double-check your work for errors, research the market so that you’re aware of changes in your industry, and ask colleagues for feedback. (Shortform note: There are three steps to be proactive: Consider what’s likely to happen and plan for it (like setting aside money for vacation), keep up with less-urgent tasks (like preventive maintenance), and prioritize your to-do list and focus on what’s most important.)
Imagine giving a friend advice about the same situation. When you think about it as an outsider, can you see what mistakes you made and what you could do better in the future? (Shortform note: Psychologists refer to this as self-distancing: Besides adopting an outside observer perspective, techniques include using third-person pronouns to describe the situation in writing and asking yourself how you’ll feel about the situation a week, month, or years from now.)
People are prone to falling into patterns of behavior. When you find yourself in a difficult situation, reflect on whether you’ve faced something similar before. Chances are, you have—and, as noted above, you can learn from it.
(Shortform note: Besides reviewing a specific experience, you can make learning from experience part of your routine. In First Things First, author Stephen Covey recommends asking yourself a series of questions each week about how things went, such as: What goals did I achieve and fail to achieve, what challenges did I face and how did I overcome them, what prevented me from reaching my goals, and what are the main lessons I can take away from this week?)
Even if you’re good at self-critique, it’s hard to improve without feedback. But people often won’t volunteer it because unsolicited advice is seen as impolite, and it can lead to arguments and hurt feelings. So ask for the kind of feedback you need, and make the other person feel safe sharing their real feelings.
(Shortfiorm note: To get the most constructive feedback possible, you may need to ask questions that are uncomfortably direct. In First Things First, Covey recommends asking these three questions of those close to you to get useful feedback at home or at work:
How you respond to feedback is just as important as how you ask for it. Don’t argue, get defensive, or be dismissive. Even if you disagree, remember that the point of feedback is to make you see something that you couldn’t have seen yourself. Think it over even if you’re not sure you’re going to internalize and act on it. Also, thank your critiquer for their help.
How to Incorporate Feedback
In Thanks for the Feedback, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen argue that your ability to solicit and incorporate feedback is a major factor in your ability to succeed. They suggest several ways to implement feedback:
1. Focus on one thing: Instead of asking generally for feedback, ask, “What’s one thing you see me doing that I can improve?” Or, ask the feedback-giver what one thing you could do that would make a difference to her personally.
2. Look for options that address the feedback giver’s underlying concern. For instance, if your partner says, “I want you to be on time,” her underlying concern may be that your being late suggests you don’t care about her needs. A solution might be to text her if being late is unavoidable and explain why (to show that the reason isn’t that you don’t care).
3. Test with small experiments: So that change isn’t overwhelming, test the feedback advice in a small way—for instance, if your doctor advises you to change your diet, start by changing one thing, such as eating a piece of fruit with lunch.
4. Motivate yourself to change by focusing on the benefits or by measuring your progress.
Set an Example
Besides helping you grow and succeed, positively receiving and incorporating feedback sets an example for your employees or coworkers. In The Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner identify five principles of leadership, starting with modeling your values. Part of this is being open to feedback. Similarly, in Radical Candor, Kim Scott discusses creating good practices around feedback among your team by first asking for feedback yourself and modeling a positive response.
Although The Oz Principle is largely about dealing with problems, the authors contend that accountability is meant to be a positive and productive philosophy. That’s why it applies even to people who are genuine victims of crime, bad luck, or other forces completely out of their control. In those cases, accountability is about taking back power so you can secure your future happiness and success.
For example, if your apartment is broken into, you’re not at fault but you’re accountable for how you respond. Rather than dwelling on how you’ve been wronged, you might focus on taking steps to better protect yourself and your home. For example:
Accountability is making every effort to be in control of the course of your life.
(Shortform note: Ex-Navy SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin advocate that leaders, especially, adopt an Extreme Ownership mindset in all circumstances. This means taking full responsibility for themselves, their role, their decisions, their team, and their team’s actions. They own the team’s mistakes and objectively assess what works and what doesn’t in order to constantly improve. Further, when leaders practice extreme ownership, team members tend to adopt the same accountability, which puts everyone’s focus on the team’s success.)
To hold yourself accountable, you have to become comfortable examining the part you play (through action or inaction) in getting into or remaining in negative situations.
Think about someone you don’t get along with. This could be a person who’s in your life right now (a co-worker, a relative, a roommate) or someone you used to know but no longer have a relationship with. Why don’t you get along with them?
Now try to put yourself in their shoes. How would they have answered the previous question? What might they think about you? In other words, what did you do (or not do) that possibly made the relationship worse or just didn’t make it any better?
Assuming that you can’t change their behavior or personality, what are three things that you, alone, could do to improve your relationship with this person or at least lessen the negative impact they have on your life?
After facing facts and admitting your role in the problem, The Oz Principle’s next two accountability steps are:
Even when you recognize a problem, you may be inclined to step aside and let someone else take care of it. But you should want to be the problem-solver, according to the authors of The Oz Principle, because being a problem-solver comes with benefits that make it worth the effort:
(Shortform note: Being a problem-solver also may be important to your career; it’s a key soft skill in the knowledge economy, where employers need people who can identify problems, analyze data, create solutions, and then take responsibility for acting.)
The authors give this advice for solving problems:
1. Get at the root of the issue. Don't waste time and resources focusing on superficial aspects. (Shortform note: The tendency to focus on the least important aspects of an important task or problem is known as “bikeshedding” or “Parkinson’s Law of Triviality.” The term bikeshedding comes from an instance where a group tasked to come up with a plan for a nuclear power plant spent inordinate time designing a bike shed. To avoid this, ask yourself whether what you’re focusing on will matter in a few months or years and whether it’s easy to change. If the answers are yes, then you’re probably bikeshedding.)
2. Mean it. Don't take shortcuts or try to appease anyone. Implement long-lasting solutions and honestly believe in them.
3. Don’t be complacent. Always look for things you can do better. This sentiment applies not only to resolving specific problems, but also to how you can approach work and life in general. Hone your existing skills and keep gaining new ones. Be aware of what other people are doing. By being more knowledgeable and well-rounded, you’re more likely to spot problems early and to be able to come up with solutions.
And if you get stuck, there are ways you can troubleshoot:
4. Try looking at the problem from a new angle. Sometimes you need a different perspective. (Shortform note: Tips for examining a problem from different perspectives include: rephrase and reframe it, challenge assumptions, expand and narrow the view, view it through the eyes of each stakeholder, pose questions rather than making statements, and use the SCAMPER tool: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other uses, Eliminate, Rearrange or Reverse.)
5. Ask for help. This might mean leaning on an existing relationship or reaching out to someone new, whether it's a colleague or another company that may be a potential ally.
6. Stay alert. A solution might lie in a small detail that you’ve taken for granted or overlooked. Pay attention to all parts of the situation; nothing is unimportant.
Remember that if you ignore a problem, it’s likely to get worse. Like an unusual noise coming from your car’s engine or an unexplained pain in your knee, what begins as a minor irritation might grow into a serious issue if you neglect it.
Concrete Advice for Better Problem-Solving
While the authors’ general advice provides a good place to start, solving tough problems may require more concrete strategies. Here are actionable tips on how to approach problem-solving:
Schedule time: In Emotional Intelligence 2.0, authors Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves recommend dedicating regular time to problem-solving as a tactic of self-management, because it’s difficult in a busy life to find time to think through decisions before making them. Schedule 15 minutes a day to walk away from your work and problem-solve particular issues. This will help you to make clearer choices and ensure that your feelings aren’t skewing your decision-making process.
Accept struggle: In Ultralearning, Scott Young recommends letting yourself struggle with problems. While he’s referring to the process of learning, his advice applies to problem-solving more generally as well: Force yourself to struggle when you encounter a difficult problem or obstacle when trying to learn something. Most problems can be solved with enough thought and effort, and deliberate struggle creates deeper understanding of the problem and builds resilience, leading to more efficient problem-solving later. Encourage this by setting a timer for 10-15 minutes and pushing yourself to work on the problem at least until the timer goes off.
Ask this question: FInally, in 12 Rules for Life, psychologist Jordan Peterson advises: Before blaming anyone else for a problem, you should be able to answer yes to the question, “Have I done everything within my ability to solve the problem?”
Analytical Versus Insightful Problem-Solving
Most of us take an analytical approach to solving problems—of reasoning through them step by step. However, we can also solve problems with insight, which occurs when our mind moves from being at a loss to suddenly knowing exactly what to do, as in a “Eureka!” moment. According to researchers, insight happens when we subconsciously reformulate the problem, seeing it in a different context.
Both approaches are innate, and we can use them in combination or one after the other. Further, insight is closely linked with creativity, and researchers say we can learn techniques to promote both creative thinking and insightful problem-solving, such as:
Soliciting different perspectives to help us see problems in a new way.
Approaching challenges with passion, which fosters creativity.
Taking a break from thinking about the problem to let ideas percolate.
Trying out many ideas, even outlandish ones because the best solution may come from an unexpected direction.
Persisting despite wrong turns and roadblocks. Success stems from learning from experience.
The authors point out that when you’re trying to solve a problem, you’ll inevitably run into roadblocks. You might be discouraged and revert to a victim mentality. Instead, mentally brace yourself for things to get tough. Try to predict setbacks or obstacles and prepare for them.
(Shortform note: Following is a planning strategy for businesses to anticipate and prepare for problems; the same type of thinking can work for individuals too. Regularly brainstorm with your team to identify events or conditions that could upend your business. Identify early indicators of each event or condition, and determine what actions you would need to take in response, such as workarounds. Engage your up-and-coming leaders in “scenario thinking,” or imagining a range of problem scenarios and responses. Compile the scenarios and responses in a manual.)
Overcome Obstacles by Asking Strategic Questions
When confronting inevitable challenges or setbacks, self-help author Tony Robbins recommends asking yourself problem-solving questions:
What’s good about this problem? This shifts your mindset from being upset about the problem to what you can learn from it.
What needs improvement? This question looks for ways to solve the problem, presupposing the situation will improve.
What am I willing to do to improve the situation? This question generates specific actions toward resolution.
What am I willing to stop doing to improve the situation? This question identifies disempowering habits getting in the way of resolution.
How can I enjoy the resolution process? After determining the problem and how to tackle it, this question encourages you to find pleasure in resolving it (which will motivate you to follow through).
The final step of The Oz Principle journey, taking action, is about staying committed and following through—not just when it comes to solving one problem, but when it comes to making accountability part of your day-to-day life.
The authors caution that people sometimes master the first three steps toward accountability—facing problems, acknowledging their responsibility, and figuring out solutions—then fail to implement these solutions.
However, a lack of follow-through on one issue can create a domino effect:
A Sign of Integrity
In The Success Principles, Jack Canfield argues that commitment and follow-through (action) are integral to success and also demonstrate your integrity, in addition to warding off a victim mentality. He gives two steps for following through on commitments:
1) Only commit to things you can deliver on. By being selective about your commitments, you ensure you don’t take on too many things or things outside of your capabilities. To do this, give yourself time to decide whether you’re going to do something, and be honest with yourself about whether you can deliver in the time frame specified.
2) Record your commitments. Use paper or digital calendars, reminders, or other tools to keep track of your timeline.
The authors offer the following advice for how to stay committed:
Example: Focus on Results
Revisiting the travel buddy example, here’s how focusing on results can help you follow through on your solutions.
Step 1: You identified the problem—he takes advantage of your organizational skills.
Step 2: You recognized your part in the problem—you’ve ignored red flags and haven’t set boundaries.
Step 3: You’ve come up with solutions—you can avoid traveling with him, try to talk it out with him, or guide him into being a better friend by making tactful suggestions.
What might stop you from completing step 4: putting your plans into action?
Maybe you broach the subject, but he gets defensive or changes the topic. You drop it for now, intending to try again another time…and then you never do. You encountered an obstacle and didn’t have the commitment to push through.
Or maybe you resolve not to take any more trips with him, but then you have a few fun nights out and remember why you’re still friends. He suggests another trip, and you impulsively agree. A few positive experiences gave you false confidence, and you slipped back into your old ways.
This is where a focus on results can keep you from getting off track. The result you’re looking for is a change in his behavior. Until you’ve seen that, the problem still exists.
Use Psychology to Stay on Track
Even when you follow the authors’ advice, you may find it hard to stay committed. When desire and willpower aren’t enough, a Psychology Today article recommends:
Visualize the benefits of following through and the downsides of not following through.
Remind yourself that you’re doing the right thing.
Accept that not everything is fun.
Tell others about your commitment, so you’ll be less likely to renege.
Imagine feeling guilty and embarrassed about not following through.
Keep track of milestones.
Remember the exercise in which you reflected on your least favorite part of your job? Let’s return to that. You’ll use the ideas you came up with already and prepare yourself to follow through on those plans.
You listed three actions that you could take to either improve that negative aspect of your job or lessen the amount of time you’d need to spend on it. For each of those actions, list one obstacle that might prevent you from seeing it through.
What are some precautions you could take to ensure that you don’t run into those obstacles?
Say your precautions fail. How do you overcome or recover from those setbacks?
So far, we’ve focused mostly on individual accountability. The final chapters shift to a big-picture view of accountability as a group endeavor. The authors explain how leaders can implement a mindset of accountability throughout their organization by modeling positive behaviors, teaching others how to hold themselves accountable, monitoring their progress, and ultimately reinforcing cultural changes so that they last.
The Oz Principle cites several benefits from creating an organizational culture of accountability:
(Shortform note: Other benefits of an organizational culture of accountability that are just as important, or even more important, include: creating and reinforcing a positive work environment, improving employee performance, encouraging greater adherence to company guidelines and rules, and greater profitability and performance versus your competition.)
Group or joint accountability starts with recognizing that, as part of a greater whole, you and your team members are interdependent.
While you have specific responsibilities for which you’re individually accountable, you also have shared responsibilities—like picking up the slack to meet a group deadline when a coworker is sick—for which you’re jointly accountable. Any group that’s working toward a shared goal—a sports team, students submitting a group project, or employees at a company—succeeds or fails together. That interdependence means members need to be accountable together, too.
(Shortform note: In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey contends that interdependence is critical to success because your relationships with others affect your productivity and ability to grow. Three of his seven habits focus on developing your interdependence through collaboration, cooperation, and communication.)
To help people look beyond their basic responsibilities and think about the things for which they share accountability with others, the authors recommend that leaders emphasize the value of results. It’s not enough that people just do what they’re supposed to do—follow directions, check off the list of duties in a job description—if they’re not producing positive results. It’s not enough for the company as a whole to maintain a status quo while falling behind competitors. The results matter more than performing assigned duties.
Make it clear to employees what kind of results you’re looking for, and be specific—whether it’s to hit a certain sales threshold or grow the team by a certain number of roles. Identify the numbers you’ll need to see to know that you’ve succeeded. To score a goal, employees have to be able to see the goalposts.
(Shortform note: In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni asserts that by having tangible measures of success, teams are better able to attract and retain achievement-oriented employees. Also, it’s easier to evaluate performance, and a focus on results avoids the distraction and waste of energy occurring when team members pursue individual agendas at the expense of the team.)
Once you’ve established the need to get results, defined the results you’re after, and explained how you’ll measure them, you’ll then have to motivate your team to focus on results.
(Shortform note: On their Partners in Leadership website, the authors of The Oz Principle provide an interactive tool called the Propeller, which helps leaders and their teams focus, communicate and track key results, as well as build empowerment and ownership. As one aspect of the platform, team members each create a personal impact statement of how their role and duties contribute to achieving specific results; everyone can see everyone else’s impact statement to see how roles work together. A sense of empowerment increases team members’ motivation.)
The authors cite rewards as a valuable motivational tool, even if the reward is purely symbolic, like getting a gold star on your homework in school). Give people gold stars in the form of praise and recognition, as well as substantive rewards such as commissions, bonuses, and so on. Some companies offer equity, knowing that employees who own a piece of the company are invested in the whole, not just in their own job.
Design an Effective Team Rewards Structure
If team-based rewards aren’t structured carefully, so that they’re clear and equitable, human resources experts caution that they can undermine individual initiative, trust, and therefore team success. Here are some typical rewards for successful teamwork, each with advantages and disadvantages:
Incentive pay: A team receives compensation based on performance against goals. Pro: Can be focused on both individual and team performance. Con: Employees may resist thinking of themselves as team members.
Recognition: A one-time performance award for a few employees or groups. Pro: Easy and inexpensive to implement. Cons: Employees may become competitive; offers less front-end motivation.
Profit sharing: The company distributes cash to all employees based on its finances. Pro: Builds awareness about company financial performance. Con: May be too far beyond workers’ control to affect performance.
Gainsharing: The company shares a percentage of the value of increased productivity. Pros: Most useful for production-oriented employees; well-received by employees because of its additional compensations. Con: May be too far beyond workers’ control to drive performance.
A key to employee acceptance of a team-based reward structure is having an objective, fair process with measurable rewards. In contrast, if vaguely defined or poorly implemented, team rewards can increase competitive behavior, including withholding information and less collegiality, resulting in a negative ROI for the company.
Further, studies show that the smaller the team, the more effective team-based rewards are. This may be because smaller teams have stronger bonds and more interaction among members than large teams.
Once you understand the building blocks of an organization-wide culture of accountability, The Oz Principle recommends these steps to become the kind of leader who can create that culture:
Accountability Strategies for Leaders
In addition to the steps above, practice these daily accountability strategies for leaders:
- Start with honesty: Accountable leaders set aside pride and admit their mistakes. They acknowledge their own role in problems and devise solutions that resolve conflicts and challenges fairly and reasonably, and focus on an end goal. They say, “I’m sorry.”
2. Seek input: When results are disappointing, accountable leaders seek feedback from bosses, peers, direct reports, and others about how things could have gone better, so they can improve in the future. They advocate for changes that improve efficiency, decision-making, and developing talent.
- Deliver on commitments: Accountable leaders don’t shirk responsibility, over- or under-commit, or procrastinate. Before agreeing to do something, they ensure they have the time and resources to do it well.
While accountability is an individual choice, you can create conditions within your organization that ensure people make that choice:
Training people in accountability involves first explaining what you've learned from The Oz Principle about behaviors that characterize victimization and failure versus accountability and success. They might need to unlearn the idea that accountability is simply another form of blame.
Discuss the behaviors of accountable people versus victims. Share personal anecdotes of times you fell into a victim mindset and how you overcame it. Giving concrete examples will help people self-reflect and apply the ideas to their own lives. (Shortform note: Inc. magazine offers the following “8 habits of highly accountable people”: Take responsibility, don’t make excuses, be on time, control our own fate, own your emotions, communicate expectations, collaborate, don’t expect praise—take satisfaction in accomplishment.)
Then, make it clear that accountability is the standard that your team and organization will be held to—incorporate accountability in your expectations and goals.
Once everyone is on the same page about the meaning of accountability and what accountability looks like, coach them to form good habits around accountability.
(Shortform note: The Gallup organization notes that many companies’ accountability problems may actually be coaching problems. In a Gallup survey, 47% of workers reported receiving feedback “a few times or less” in a year; and only 26% strongly agreed that the feedback they got helped them do better.)
The authors point out that coaching people is different from controlling them. Instead of telling someone what to do, ask them what they think they should do. Give them the opportunity to make decisions and solve problems, because that will help them form good habits around accountability. It also forces them to take responsibility for their own work, rather than only taking orders (thus leaving the responsibility with whoever’s directing them).
(Shortform note: To further clarify the difference between coaching and controlling (or managing), a Forbes article describes coaching as involving exploring, facilitating, partnering, encouraging ongoing improvement, and opening the door to multiple potential outcomes. In contrast, managing involves ordering, directing, meeting immediate needs, and producing a specific outcome. This chart shows additional differences in coaching mindset and behavior.)
A few elements of good coaching include:
Anyone can revert to bad habits. The benefit of a team is that members can look out for each other, providing support, encouragement, and constructive advice to keep moving forward. To facilitate giving and receiving feedback, make sure people feel safe speaking up.
(Shortform note: Ways to ensure that employees feel safe speaking up include proving that you value what people have to say, avoiding making them feel wrong, listening without judgment, and ensuring psychological safety by being open, honest, and respectful.)
Validate those who speak up to offer another perspective: Thank them, acknowledge the value of their input, and engage thoughtfully with their points.
Just as you monitor your own progress, keep track of how the people you’re coaching are doing. Set specific times and dates to follow up with them. Make it routine.
But don’t micromanage—be willing to leave people to their own devices, and trust that they’ll figure things out. Knowing when to intervene and when to rely on your team is part of being a good leader. (Shortform note: In contrast, micromanaging not only undermines trust, it’s also highly stressful for employees.)
When there’s a problem, ask questions and do your own investigating if necessary to find (and guide employees to) the underlying causes.
People might give excuses, misinterpret events, lack information, or otherwise be unable to pinpoint why something went wrong. It’s not that you should distrust what they say; just be aware that people have biases, and you can’t always take someone’s version of events as the absolute truth. Remember, it’s not about blaming them—it’s about giving them the tools to overcome their obstacles.
Seven Essential Coaching Questions
Coaching can address a specific issue with an employee, such as meeting or not meeting a goal. But it can also be an ongoing developmental process.
In The Coaching Habit, Michael Stanier recommends routinely asking employees these “seven essential questions”:
What’s on your mind?
Anything else?
What’s the central challenge for you?
What do you want?
How can I support you?
What’s the cost of saying “yes”?
What was most useful to you?
By making a habit of asking these questions, you can help your employees become more productive, independent, and able to solve their own problems.
Next, help your team maintain a positive and productive attitude by asking questions that guide them toward an accountability mindset. For example, you might encourage your team members to respond to all problems with “How can I help?” Or to respond to obstacles with “What’s the next step?” This focuses people’s thinking on making progress and on how they can influence the situation.
However, you might also come up with your own questions tailored to your organization’s unique needs. These questions might draw attention to signs that you're making errors you've made in the past, or the unique goals and results you're aiming for now. For example, if your team once missed a project deadline because a mathematical error forced you to redo work, you might set checkpoints to ask: “Have we double-checked our calculations so far?”
Accountability Questions
Another way to build a personal and organizational accountability habit is to ask yourself these questions weekly. Compare answers with an accountability partner, if you have one.
Rate the past week on a scale of 1-10 (10 being fantastic).
What was your biggest priority?
Did you accomplish it, and if not, why not?
What did you learn last week?
What was your biggest business highlight?
What was your biggest obstacle?
What do you need to solve it?
What was your biggest personal highlight last week?
What needs to happen to make this week a success?
What do you need help with and who do you need to contact?
An accountability mindset, or lack thereof, will be evident in people’s work. You’ll know if people are holding themselves accountable by whether they get results, complete tasks on time, and follow through on the things they say they’re going to do.
Help them stay on track by starting small, creating routines, and checking in on their progress. If they have many projects, tasks, or commitments on their plate, get them to focus on one goal at a time. Don’t just wait for them to finish and come to you with an update. Follow up with them at mutually agreed-upon times. If they falter, you can offer constructive feedback. If they’re succeeding, offer encouragement and praise. (Shortform note: Similarly, The Coaching Habit recommends taking advantage of daily coaching opportunities. For example, if an employee sends you a long email about a problem, respond by asking, “Before I send you a detailed reply, can you tell me what the central challenge is for you?”)
You’ll slowly normalize accountability as part of the day-to-day operations within your organization.
Once people begin to practice accountability, reinforce those behaviors so that they become habits. For example, use keywords or phrases—like the questions you came up with. Even the word “accountability” can become a signal that reminds people of discussions you’ve had.
Another way to reinforce good habits is to use rewards, especially praise or recognition. (Shortform note: In Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work, Paul Marciano notes that managers tend to overestimate how much recognition they give. But recognition is a key part of a leader’s job, because quick recognition of positive behavior locks in that behavior while failure to reinforce it makes it less likely to be repeated. Further, a minute spent complimenting someone’s work can lead to hours of increased productivity.)
When accountability is a company value, those who show the greatest accountability are entrusted with more responsibility and earn promotions as well. They become leaders, which helps cement a culture of accountability in the organization.
Although the accountability strategies in The Oz Principle seem like common sense, they're challenging to implement. Instead of making the effort, many organizations waste time on trendy management and leadership programs that don’t effect lasting change.
In the final chapter, the authors highlight the most common and most harmful issues they’ve observed in organizations. Resolving them requires time, resources, and change; but to leave them unresolved is to ensure that your company never achieves its full potential.
We’ll group these issues into three categories: employee development, communication, and individual motivation.
For the organization to grow, your people have to grow. Sometimes that growth can happen organically—often, though, it comes only as the result of deliberate effort.
Problem: Many companies don’t invest time and resources in developing their employees' skills. In turn, employees do the bare minimum because they're not motivated to improve and their progress is not being monitored.
Accountability Solution: In an accountability culture, it’s on leaders to provide feedback. Then, it's on the employees to act on it. In addition, individuals must hold themselves accountable by finding ways to grow their own skills, take on more responsibility, and improve by monitoring their results. The organization and the individual must meet in the middle.
(Shortform note: A Harvard Business Review article notes that in addition to providing motivation, the right kind of employee development is critical to retention. Providing effective development programs entails: conducting one-on-one meetings to learn about the needs of your employees, creating hands-on learning opportunities, and giving feedback.)
Poor communication is at the root of many problems. And communication issues can take many forms. Sometimes people aren't accessible to each other. Sometimes they don't ask the right questions, or they don't really listen to what other people have to say. Key information doesn’t get properly disseminated to everyone.
Problem: A communication failure can balloon into other issues when people within the company aren't on the same page about their shared goals. This leads to a lack of focus and unity. And even if that lack of unity doesn't cause immediate or obvious problems, it makes the team less effective and slows the company’s growth.
Accountability Solution: Results are key to accountability—and people can’t be accountable if everyone's looking for different results, or doesn't know what the ideal results are at all. Confused or directionless employees aren’t effective. It’s on leaders to make sure everyone is on the same page and communicating clearly with each other. And it’s on employees to speak up when they’re confused and to take accountability for their own role in the organization.
Communicate Your Strategy for Results
A Harvard Business Review article emphasizes that companies can’t grow if they don’t communicate their strategy and goals to employees. Communication approaches for results include:
Keep your message to employees simple but meaningful (communicate your company’s core purpose).
Use market and customer insights to build behavior. To understand your strategy and goals, employees need to be in touch with market realities.
Create a message with three components: it should inspire, educate and reinforce. In addition to reinforcing the connection between company strategy and goals, reinforce behavior that advances the goals through rewards and recognition.
Be visible: Leaders should be visible and engage with employees at all levels (don’t give a big strategy presentation and then disappear).
Avoid corporate-speak, or employees will tune out.
Invest resources in internal communication.
A final business problem has to do with ownership, empowerment, and taking initiative.
Problem: Employees sometimes fail to take initiative because they don't realize they can or should. Supervisors want more proactive employees, but they fail to show them trust or give them the space to make mistakes without repercussions (within reason). It's a vicious cycle: Managers expect their employees to earn more power and responsibilities, while employees hold themselves back because of a lack of trust from their leaders.
Accountability Solution: As an employee, show that you can be trusted by getting results. Concrete evidence of your skills and problem-solving ability is the easiest way to build yourself up in the eyes of your teammates and supervisors. As a leader, learn to be present and involved without being too controlling; give your team a chance to rise to the occasion.
(Shortform note: Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work offers empowerment steps including: Regularly ask employees how you can help them be more successful, delegate as much responsibility for decision-making as possible, improve training during onboarding, devote time and resources to continued training, encourage employees to take educated risks, ask employees how you can remove roadblocks or change restrictive policies, allow employees to cross-train and expand their skills, turn employees into coaches, and provide a range of new opportunities and allow employees to choose.)
Problem: Complacency is a related issue—people may feel so secure in their jobs that they begin to slack off because they’ve started to take it for granted. We’re all susceptible to that behavior.
Accountability Solution: Make sure everyone understands that they have to continue earning their jobs, in the same way that they continually work to maintain a relationship or keep their home in good shape. You never really stop earning your job, its benefits or perks, raises and promotions, and your place in the company.
If the company grows, you get more of the benefits; but if it goes through a rough patch, you might lose some of the perks or the job itself. So it’s in your best interest to do everything you can to make sure the company succeeds. It’s not just the boss’s responsibility—it’s everyone’s.
(Shortform note: Signs that your employees are becoming complacent include: disengagement, not asking questions or challenging themselves or others, not taking initiative, not investing in their skills and relationships or building their personal brand, taking shortcuts, playing it safe, and complaining and playing the victim.)