Watch the Walk, Never Mind the Talk

Every organization, no matter the size or type, has a written set of values and principles. Whether it’s a business, a not-for-profit, a government agency or a political group, people who work together to achieve a purpose tend to write down what they believe in and how they want to present themselves. Sometimes these documents are described as a Code of Conduct, a Statement of Values, Our Principles. Whatever the title, organizations want to be explicit about their ideals and may spend a great deal of time contemplating these words, debating them, refining them and presenting them - both to the outside world and to each other.

This is laudable. The more explicit these documents are, the greater the expectation that people will behave in accordance with the words. We spend a lot of time on the “talk” in order to encourage the right kind of “walk.” So why is it so often the case that these carefully considered and chosen words end up as simply a plaque on the wall that people ignore? Why is there so much skepticism, even cynicism, around them?

Here’s another question: why do so many organizations build a “balanced scorecard” of metrics (profit and customer satisfaction for example) and then actually pay attention to only a few of them? Or why do so many teams labor over a strategic plan and then put it on a shelf and go back to what they were doing before?

The answer? A lack of accountability. Accountability is the disciplined practice of confronting behavior and choices that are inconsistent with written statements of ideals; performance that falls short of all, not just some, of the metrics that matter; decisions on how to spend time and money that are inconsistent with strategic intent. And true accountability requires not just acknowledgement and confrontation of behavior, performance and decisions that fall short, but also real consequence. Consequences can range from direct conversations to course correction to punitive action, but consequences must occur. Without accountability and consequence, words are just words.

When people look around the organization to which they belong, they focus on what actually happens, not what is supposed to happen. Who gets ahead? Who gets the attention? Does anyone get called out when they violate a Statement of Principles? Are there any real consequences when people fall short of some goals if they are achieving others? How much can you actually get away with? Forget the boundaries suggested by the words. What are the actually boundaries we’ve learned through experience? No matter how lofty or well- intentioned or brilliant the talk, only accountability and consequence can change the walk.

People may appreciate the talk, but they watch the walk. For an individual, a team or an organization, it is our walk that defines us, not our talk. Actions always speak louder than words.