In most organizations, people are experts at taking the monkey off their own backs and putting it squarely on yours. Accountability is hard to find.
Let’s talk about the most frustrating word in your business: accountability. There isn’t a hotter, or more frustrating, topic out there.
As a leader, you’re trying to build an ownership mentality. But what you often get can be a lot of:
- “I can’t finish the drawings; sales didn’t give me a clear scope.”
- “The project is stalled, but I’m just waiting on the customer.”
- “We busted the budget because engineering didn’t account for the labor.”
- “I would’ve been onsite, but traffic was terrible.”
There’s a concept from Harvard Business Review called “Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey?” The monkey is the problem. And, in most organizations, your people are experts at taking the monkey off their own backs and putting it squarely on yours.
When your project manager says, “Boss, I’m stuck waiting on the architect,” and you say, “Okay, I’ll call them,” then you just took the monkey. You’re now the bottleneck. You’ve become the chief problem solver, and your back is full of monkeys. Meanwhile, your employee is waiting on you. Progress slows or, worse yet, completely stalls. This has to stop.
The Mindset Shift: From “To Me” to “For Me”
Most of your people feel like accountability is something done to them. It’s negative. It’s a hammer. You have to transform this belief. True accountability is something done for them.
Think about it: Would you rather be in the driver’s seat of your car or in the passenger seat? Most of us want the wheel. We want control. That’s all accountability is: It’s about being in control of your own outcomes. The problem is, our culture rewards the opposite. It rewards blame. To break this, you need a simple, visual tool that your entire team can use to call out their own and others’ behavior.
The Framework: Above or Below the Line?
This concept is borrowed from the Oz Principle, and it’s brilliant in its simplicity. In any situation, we are either “Above the Line” or “Below the Line.”
Below the Line is the victim loop. It’s confusion, finger-pointing, excuses, and “it’s not my job.” This is where monkeys are passed and drama triangles thrive.
Above the Line is the path of ownership. It’s a simple, four-step process:
- See It: Acknowledge the reality
- Own It: Accept your role in the problem and the solution
- Solve It: Brainstorm what you can control
- Do It: Execute the plan and get the result
Your job as a leader is to stop answering questions and start coaching your people to live Above the Line.
The Coaching Playbook (How to Give the Monkey Back)
Let’s replay the scenario mentioned earlier with your project manager (PM), who says they’re waiting on the architect.
PM: “Boss, I’m stuck. I’m waiting on the architect’s drawings.” (This is a “Below the Line” excuse.)
You (your old move): “Ugh. Okay, I’ll call them.” (You just took the monkey.)
You (your new move): “I hear you. That’s a tough spot.” (See It.) “So, what’s within your control that you could do right now to help move this project forward?” (Own It.)
PM: “I don’t know, I’m stuck. It’s on them.”
You: “I get it. But who else could you talk to? What are three different options you could try?”
PM: “Well, I could call the architect’s admin assistant, call he project champion, or work on a different section of the submittal package in the meantime.”
You: “Great. Which of those three ideas is the best one to act on first?” (Solve It.)
PM: “I’ll call the project champion. They have influence.”
You: “Fantastic. When can you call them?” (Do It.)
PM: “I’ll do it this afternoon.”
You: “Perfect. Let me know what they say.”
Look at what just happened. You didn’t take the monkey. You coached them. You kept ownership where it belongs. You’re teaching them how to solve problems, not just bringing them to you.
This Is Working Right Now
This isn’t just theory. RISE Performance Group is working with fellow NSCA members, like Lone Star Communications, that are driving this framework across their entire company.
They’ve built their own “Empowerment Equation” based on this. They’re using it to break down the exact inter-departmental friction mentioned earlier. Justin Bailey and Dan Hiett at Lone Star are coaching their long-time employees to have productive, “Above the Line” conversations rather than escalate problems.
The result? They are creating a fundamental belief that when every employee is empowered to own their decisions, the team will solve problems faster. That’s not just a nice culture—that is a competitive advantage.
Your New Job Description
Leaders, your new job is to be the “Chief Monkey-Deflector-in-Charge.”
You create an accountability habit the same way you get in shape: through practice and repetition. At Lone Star, they literally track the number of these coaching conversations in a KPI to build the habit.
This is how you scale. You can’t grow if every problem lands on your desk. Stop collecting monkeys. Start coaching your team to live Above the Line.
What’s the one monkey you are going to give back this week?
Mark Fenner is the mastermind behind RISE Performance Group, an NSCA Member Advisory Councilmember.
