Accountability
"What is holding you back?"
The Coach chairs. Primary boxes: Control + Reality from the six-box canvas. Energy is reflective — what happened vs what was expected.
An accountability meeting closes the loop. It compares outcomes to expectations and names what actually happened — honestly. Without this meeting type, every other type produces plans that drift silently.
Protocol
| Stage | Protocol | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Before | Collect metrics. Compare actual vs expected. Prepare honest assessment. | Evidence gathered |
| During | Review outcomes vs expectations. Enter the danger. Time-block next priorities. | Updated reality |
| After | Decision journal updated. Next iteration's Reality box pre-filled. | Loop closed |
Running It
- Chair asks: "What are you really trying to accomplish?" and "What's holding you back?"
- Review outcomes vs expectations. Enter the danger — say the hard thing.
- Trusted connections only. Accountability requires psychological safety.
- Time-block next priorities before leaving the room.
- Outcomes: combat decision fatigue, relieve "what next?" dis-ease, conviction and commitment.
Debrief
After every accountability meeting, firm up perspectives and reach consensus on key takeaways. Convert into a format that persists.
Map meeting notes to JTBD Stories for standardised analysis. Communicate outcomes along with impact on roles and processes.
Shadow Risk
Coddling. Avoiding hard truths to protect comfort. The room reviews progress through rose-tinted glasses. Blockers get acknowledged but never confronted. "We're making progress" becomes the default answer regardless of evidence.
Shadow check: Are we coaching or coddling? Hard feedback delivered with care is a gift. Hard feedback avoided is a betrayal of trust.
Wrong Meeting?
| Signal | Redirect to |
|---|---|
| Nothing to measure yet | Decision — commit to something measurable first |
| Room wants to generate new ideas | Collision — diverge before reviewing |
| Disagreement about what success looks like | Debate — align on criteria |
| New information changes the picture | Discovery — update shared understanding first |
Context
- Coach Archetype — The chair's operating mode
- Make Meetings Matter — The six-box canvas
- Meetings — Universal protocol
- Scoreboard — Where outcomes live
- Decision Fatigue — What accountability meetings combat
Questions
How do you create a room safe enough for honesty but uncomfortable enough for growth?
- What distinguishes accountability that produces change from accountability that produces guilt?
- When metrics show failure, how does the chair prevent the room from retreating into excuses?
- If the Coach archetype asks rather than tells, what question cuts deepest without breaking trust?