Adam Markel uses a baseball mound anecdote to explain two kinds of accountability in business: judgment vs feedback. He contrasts shaming/judgment with supportive, improvement-focused feedback rooted in love, arguing that accountability should aim to help individuals and teams improve so they can win together.
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Regardless of your team. This is a typical scene on the mound where the pitcher is on the mound. Now, I want you to imagine if you've seen a baseball game, you know, sometimes when that pitcher's on the mound, they're not always doing so great. Meaning they're throwing a ball up there and the other team is whacking it, hitting it out of the park. And screw scoring runs. What ends up happening is that people come to the mound. What do they come to the mound to do? Just call it out. Why is the manager out there? They go out there, and the manager and the third baseman and the first baseman, they come onto the mound and they go, hey, buddy, you suck. What's wrong with you? How do you call yourself a professional? You need to hang it up, get to the shower. We're going to send you. You need to play Little League baseball again. Is that what they say? Come on. Is that what they say? No. What do they say? How you doing? Are you okay, buddy? You know. How's your arm? How you feeling? What happened with that last batter? Do we cross signs here? Maybe it's time to get in the dugout and root the team on. Let's. You know, Jim, he's sitting. He's ready to come, you know, come out of the. Out of the bullpen. They're having a conversation. And that conversation about. Is about accountability. Yes, except there's two kinds of accountability. And this, in my experience in business, is one of the most difficult things that leaders can do. In fact, when I'm coaching CEOs or others, it's generally in how to hold people accountable. Because accountability has its roots in something that starts with a J. What's the word that starts with a J? That doesn't feel so good. Say it. Thank you. Judgment. Nobody wants to be judged, and nobody wants to judge others. We get it that it's kind of a vicious cycle. We judge others, we get judged. We don't want to do that. See, the scene on the mound in baseball is not about judgment. The scene on the mound is about one thing only. What is it about? Thank you. Say it loudly, please. Winning. They want to win as a team, their goal is to win a game. And you know what happens when that player is leaving the game or they're staying in the game? Their teammates give them a little pat on the back, little bump on the tush, whatever it is. They say, great job, job well done. You know, whether it's hit the showers or it's get the next batter, it's rooted in love. I want you to get this. This is so important because a buddy of mine is writing a book right now called Love Is Just Damn Good Business. I buy that 100% love. Accountability that's rooted in love is easy. It's feedback. We're going to talk about that in a second. That's what it is. It's feedback. It's not criticism. It's not back to third grade, where you got that bad grade and you were afraid to go home and show it to your parents. Or where you were embarrassed in school where you raised your hand and asked a question and a class laugh. Or the teacher derided you. It's not that at all. It's about improvement, self improvement and team improvement to win the game. Does that make sense?
