Each morning as my 4th grade daughter gets her bags packed and her shoes on and her hair fixed just right, she always asks me, "Will you wait for the bus with me today?" Some days, I admit, I am already busy at the computer and don't want to be interrupted to stand outside waiting for the bus. Other days, I listen to her call, stop whatever I'm doing, and walk with her across the street - often with my hair still uncombed, barefoot and carrying my first cup of coffee. The neighbors just laugh at me. Some days I'll ask, "Can we just wait here on the front porch, I'm a mess and I don't feel like walking down the street to meet all the other bus stop moms." She doesn't mind. So we sit on the front steps of our house listening for the rumble of the bus so that she can run to the corner when we hear it coming.
My favorite time of the day is early in the morning, before the kids are awake. The hardest time of the day for me is when my morning solitude is broken! Now that the kids are older, I can usually savor my time for a while after they are up, shouting time reminders from my chair and suggestions for where books, hair clips and breakfast can be found. But when I'm asked to wait for the bus, that is a physical interruption . . . I must close the door on my time and refocus on her needs.
I realize the way I respond to this question could impact her whole day. It is a framing opportunity - an opportunity to set the emotional and mental stage for her day. As we walk to the corner, I remind her of an accomplishment from the day before. I bring up topics that she enjoys and that build her up. My goal is to help her begin the day feeling good about herself and emotionally secure.
What are the framing opportunities in your work or church environments - opportunities to set the stage for a meeting, a project or some one's day? Is it hard to put aside your time and refocus on someone else's needs or the needs of a whole group? What are the results when you do?
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Appreciative Accountability
The word accountability conjures up ideas of judgment, elevated authority looking down at us, black robes and gavels . . . And where there is judgment, there must have been a crime. So, just hearing the word accountability makes us defensive. We assume we are being investigated. We have to track and report all our numbers and measurements to prove our case of innocence.
In some settings, accountability is more accepted, though it still raises defenses a bit. In manufacturing, for example, accountability for product quality and sales impact profit margins. Therefore, it is expected by production workers and rarely overlooked by managers. However, when you talk about accountability among human service groups, it is a different story. And, boy, try mentioning it when talking with a church board or ministry team; the bristles really perk up!
Historically, human service funding has not tied directly to evaluation measures, but this is changing. Government dollars are stretched. Foundations, United Way's, and even individual givers are eager to see the results of their gifts. In response, organizations that feed the hungry, house the homeless, care for the elderly and young children are required more and more to count numbers and show outcomes. Executive directors and local government managers are developing program evaluations and quality improvements. Six Sigma and other quality terms heard in manufacturing for years, are beginning to show up in non-profit circles. Still, tracking and analyzing data can be foreign, frustrating, and even offensive to those who have dedicated their life's work to helping people.
When services are grounded in passion for the well being of others, whether human service oriented or ministry, it feels devaluing to reduce the results to measurable counts or statistical formulas!
Let me offer an alternative view of accountability. Rather than drudging through data to prove our innocence from misuse of funds, let's consider accountability from an appreciative perspective.
There are two ways to change behavior - by reward or by punishment. When using a reward system, people receive praise and acknowledgement. The results include feelings of accomplishment and success, feeling good, higher self esteem, and increasing confidence. Punishment creates the opposite response: fear, anxiety, negative feelings about self, lower confidence, and lower self esteem.
So, if we turned accountability into appreciation, what would that look like? Reports would be used for recognizing and publicly praising accomplishments; watching for and publicizing successes; calling attention to individuals, programs or ministries that make a difference. Data tracking becomes a way to feel good about your work, your ministry, yourself . . . You can watch the scale tip . . . Show others what works well . . . Document the evidence so new ideas or strategies that work well can be repeated and more lives can be changed! Appreciative accountability assumes program strength rather than program deficit.
It is not easy to be appreciative in a world that assumes the darker side but it is well worth the effort. Be intentional. Take another look at accountability, a healing look, a healthy look. It is a new tool, a new resource that can and will make a difference for the future!
In some settings, accountability is more accepted, though it still raises defenses a bit. In manufacturing, for example, accountability for product quality and sales impact profit margins. Therefore, it is expected by production workers and rarely overlooked by managers. However, when you talk about accountability among human service groups, it is a different story. And, boy, try mentioning it when talking with a church board or ministry team; the bristles really perk up!
Historically, human service funding has not tied directly to evaluation measures, but this is changing. Government dollars are stretched. Foundations, United Way's, and even individual givers are eager to see the results of their gifts. In response, organizations that feed the hungry, house the homeless, care for the elderly and young children are required more and more to count numbers and show outcomes. Executive directors and local government managers are developing program evaluations and quality improvements. Six Sigma and other quality terms heard in manufacturing for years, are beginning to show up in non-profit circles. Still, tracking and analyzing data can be foreign, frustrating, and even offensive to those who have dedicated their life's work to helping people.
When services are grounded in passion for the well being of others, whether human service oriented or ministry, it feels devaluing to reduce the results to measurable counts or statistical formulas!
Let me offer an alternative view of accountability. Rather than drudging through data to prove our innocence from misuse of funds, let's consider accountability from an appreciative perspective.
There are two ways to change behavior - by reward or by punishment. When using a reward system, people receive praise and acknowledgement. The results include feelings of accomplishment and success, feeling good, higher self esteem, and increasing confidence. Punishment creates the opposite response: fear, anxiety, negative feelings about self, lower confidence, and lower self esteem.
So, if we turned accountability into appreciation, what would that look like? Reports would be used for recognizing and publicly praising accomplishments; watching for and publicizing successes; calling attention to individuals, programs or ministries that make a difference. Data tracking becomes a way to feel good about your work, your ministry, yourself . . . You can watch the scale tip . . . Show others what works well . . . Document the evidence so new ideas or strategies that work well can be repeated and more lives can be changed! Appreciative accountability assumes program strength rather than program deficit.
It is not easy to be appreciative in a world that assumes the darker side but it is well worth the effort. Be intentional. Take another look at accountability, a healing look, a healthy look. It is a new tool, a new resource that can and will make a difference for the future!
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