Mar 18, 2025
Accountability
Messy teams don't mean broken teams.
They're just growing. Growth kicks off the “storming” phase - overlaps, confusion, delays. Everyone's working hard, but everything feels slow.
That's not a motivation problem. It's an ownership problem.
When no one's clearly accountable, things fall between the cracks. Work stalls. Friction builds. Blame starts to creep in. But assign clear ownership - name, scope, outcome - and everything changes. Now someone's driving. Now someone's finishing.
Ownership creates motion. Shared responsibility sounds nice, but it rarely works. When everyone owns something, no one owns anything.
So make it visible. Write it down. Who owns what. Why it matters. When it's due.
That's how work moves forward. Not with good intentions. With clear accountability.
They're just growing. Growth kicks off the “storming” phase - overlaps, confusion, delays. Everyone's working hard, but everything feels slow.
That's not a motivation problem. It's an ownership problem.
When no one's clearly accountable, things fall between the cracks. Work stalls. Friction builds. Blame starts to creep in. But assign clear ownership - name, scope, outcome - and everything changes. Now someone's driving. Now someone's finishing.
Ownership creates motion. Shared responsibility sounds nice, but it rarely works. When everyone owns something, no one owns anything.
So make it visible. Write it down. Who owns what. Why it matters. When it's due.
That's how work moves forward. Not with good intentions. With clear accountability.
About Max Antonov
I’m Max, a father of two, Product Director & Product Coach from Sydney. I write about leadership, product management
and life.
Feel free to reach out: [email protected].
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