VeraSage

On Accountability

Ed Kless - 11/28/2009

I’m not a river or a giant bird
That soars to the sea,
And if I’m never tied to anything,
I’ll never be free

-From the Finale of the musical Pippin by Stephen Schwartz

Twenty years ago, I had the good fortune to perform in this play as the eponymous character with a community theatre troupe. The run was four performances over two weekends. So, if you throw in rehearsals, I must have sang these lyrics dozens, perhaps hundreds of times.

It was not until at least ten years later, when I first began reading the works of Peter Block, that I even began to understand them. What Schwartz has so elegantly defined for us is the idea of accountability.

Over the past few years I have read countless books, articles and blog posts that call for more accountability in the workplace. With the exception of Block, they all suppose that it is a management function to develop processes to “hold people accountable.” Think back on your past conversations about accountability and, no doubt, they will be transitive in nature. Herein lies the problem.

Accountability is not something can be imposed, but rather chosen. Peter Block begins to develop this idea as far back as Flawless Consulting and it comes to full maturity in Freedom and Accountability at Work. It is absurd to think we can even try to “get those people to be accountable.”

In Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, the author writes of his experiences surviving a Nazi concentration camp and comes to the understanding that the only human freedom that cannot ever be taken away is the ability to choose how one feels about any given situation. Even if we are a victim of unspeakable crimes, we have the choice as to whether or not we feel like a victim. We are accountable for our own feelings, not anyone else.

Indeed, it is not only totalitarianism that is the enemy of freedom, but vagueness. In my view this is the problem with accountability in business. It is not that people do not want to be accountable, but rather that leaders are unclear about the expectations. Ron Baker tells a story of proposing this gedanken to a group to which he was speaking - What if timesheets became illegal? One participant blurted out, “Oh, my God, we would actually have to lead.”

The startling conclusion at which I have arrived through reflect on Block and Schwartz is this: Freedom and accountability are not just linked but are actually one and the same. If you want people to “be accountable” give them their freedom, but be clear about the expected results.

Chris Marston: Legal Rebel

Ron Baker - 11/22/2009

Congratulations to Chris Marston and the entire Team at Exemplar for being appointed a Legal Rebel.

You can read Chris’ Legal Rebel profile here.

I don’t know most of the other Legal Rebels, but I would bet that Chris Marston is the only practicing lawyer among them who doesn’t do timesheets. I don’t know how you can be a Legal Rebel if you still complete a timesheet—the buggy whip of the intellectual capital economy.

Also, check out Exemplar’s new Website and our Australian colleague John Chisholm’s blog post on meeting Chris on his recent tour of the USA.

Congratulations Chris and Exemplar—you are truly a Firm of the Future!

Fijación de precios gringos estúpidos

Ed Kless - 11/19/2009

A great example of price discrimination in its purest sense.

Takeaways from The Crime of Reason

Ed Kless - 11/18/2009

OK, I’ll just admit it, I am a lousy book reviewer. So, rather than go through the motions, I have decided to just post my nuggets that I have taken away from Robert B. Laughlin’s The Crime of Reason.

• While most knowledge is freely available, most economically valuable knowledge is kept secret. What is more, it is not kept secret because it is technical in nature, rather, we define it as technical when it is kept secret.
• The book made me think about the availability of knowledge on the Internet differently. Rather than access to all knowledge, it has become a great cover for those who want some knowledge hidden. I am not talking about JFK or 9/11 conspiracies, I am talking about knowledge that are held as proprietary or trade secrets.
• There are certain things that it is just plain illegal to know. Try to gain the knowledge of how to build an atomic bomb for example. The closer you get to knowing, the more likely you will end up in jail.
• Explaining a genuinely new idea is extremely difficult because the listener does not possess the contextual knowledge of the speaker.
• Most entertainment is the celebration of disposable knowledge. In fact, when we are relaxing we avoid useful information. This is why some people do not like my Facebook posts and Twitter updates. They are on these technologies to relax and I am confronting them with potential useful information. (Sorry, but I do not plan to stop. Just unfriend or unfollow me, I am really OK with it.) Let me quote from the book, “Soap operas are enjoyable because their intellectual maintenance costs are low.”
• All advertising is information you do not want to see. “Advertising is Fun’s evil twin brother. The two go everywhere together.” If you want to enjoy yourself from free you have to accept advertising.
• TV commercials are spam. Once you realize this the email variety is not as bad as we think.
• Gaining real knowledge has a cost. What is worse, the more you try to reduce the cost of gaining knowledge, the more spam you will have.
• I close with this quote, “The right to learn is now aggressively opposed by intellectual property advocates, who want ideas elevated to the status of land, cars, and other physical assets so that unauthorized acquisition can be prosecuted as theft.” This is a dangerous belief. For more on this read this article entitled IP and Libertarianism by Stephan Kinsella.

The Chisconsult Newsletter

Ron Baker - 11/06/2009

John Chisholm from Melbourne Australia is a third-generation attorney, a consultant to the legal profession, a wine connoisseur, and a terrific guy.

John hosted me last August for a tour in Australia talking to legal firms, young attorneys, general counsel, and government officials.

He publishes a newsletter that is quite good.

His Spring edition is now out, which you can access at The_Chisconsult_Circle_-_Issue_2.pdf

You can also register to receive the newsletter at John’s Web site. Well worth reading if you have an interest in the legal profession, or wine—John’s daughter Kate offers reviews of some fantastic Australian wines.

The Legatum Institute Prosperity Index

Ron Baker - 11/05/2009

There are many political and economic freedom indexes you can follow, such as the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom or The Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World report, among others.

The Legatum Institute was founded by Christopher Chandler, a New Zealand billionaire. In the institute’s view, man does not live on bread along, or merely political freedom and economic growth. Thus, there are two halves to prosperity, economic competitiveness and comparative liveability, which includes freedom of choice, ethical values, good health, equality of opportunity, civil liberties, spiritual faith, low unemployment, strong family life, and a temperate climate.

As its Web site reports:

The 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index is the world’s only global assessment of wealth and wellbeing. The Index finds that the most prosperous nations in the world are not necessarily those that have only a high GDP, but are those that also have happy, healthy, and free citizens. Now in its third year, the Index builds on the previous versions with expanded data and refined analysis and assesses 104 nations covering 90 percent of the world’s population.

The top 10 countries are:

1. Finland
2. Switzerland
3. Sweden
4. Denmark
5. Norway
6. Australia
7. Canada
8. Netherlands
9. United States
10. New Zealand
    

Sure, it’s a bit subjective, and is unsure about how to weigh religion in the Index, but it’s interesting and worth pondering.

It adds another dimension to assessing political and economic freedom without degenerating into meaningless platitudes that you find in some “happiness” and “environmental quality” indexes.

You can access the report here.

The New VeraSage Logo

Ed Kless - 11/03/2009

Sage Summit Sessions

Ed Kless - 11/02/2009

A few Sage business partners have inquired as to what sessions I am doing at the upcoming Sage Summit customer conference in Atlanta next week.

Without further ado, here they are:

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

It would be my honor to meet your customers, so bring them by if you can.