We take responsibility for our actions at the time we perform our actions, not at the time we get caught.

Simon Sinek

At first glance, Simon Sinek’s statement about when we take responsibility for our actions seems benign.  Of course, given that we are professionals, we do take responsibility for our actions at the time we are caught—but at the time we make the action occur?  Do we take responsibility then?  Have you ever really thought about that?

Suddenly, the inquiry gets richer, doesn’t it?  You have seen it with employees—something goes wrong; they did it; and you can see the conflict reflected in their faces as they struggle with simply saying, “Yes, I did that.”  Most likely you have been there too.

So what is it about us, as humans that has us run away from responsibility?  Consider that we don’t like being wrong, and that this aversion has deeply entrenched roots in our past.  When you were a child you did something, such as you broke a vase, you didn’t feed the dog, or you spilled milk all over the dining room table.  The consequences were devastating; you were spanked, sent to your room, or denied dessert.  Right then and there you decided, “Don’t ever let that happen again.”  You developed a strategy—do whatever is necessary to make it look like you didn’t do it.  You learned to lie or to at least deflect the accusation.  Sound familiar?

What is available to us if we adopt what Sinek is suggesting?  By taking responsibility for our actions at the time we do them, doesn’t it then follow that when we are caught by an action gone wrong, we would already be responsible?  Consider that there is freedom in this.  You are saved from lying and equivocating.   This freedom would give you time to create newly instead of spending your energy covering your ass.

In the comments below, please share any thoughts you have about when to take responsibility.  I look forward to hearing from you.

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