Accountability Revisited

Accountability seems to be a reoccurring theme. The topic came up in my last post in the quote from Peter Block in his book Stewardship.

Block continues the topic in his latest book COMMUNITY: THE STRUCTURE OF BELONGING. What follows are some of his quotes related to accountability.

Choosing our freedom is also the source of our willingness to choose to be accountable. The insight is that freedom is what creates accountability. Freedom is not an escape from accountability as the popular culture so often misunderstands. (Page 21)

The essential insight is that people will be accountable and committed to what they have a hand in creating. This insight extends to the belief that whatever the world demands of us, the people most involved have the collective wisdom to meet the requirements of the demand. (Page 24)

Community exists for the sake of belonging and takes its identity from the gifts, generosity, and accountability of its citizens. It is not defined by its fears, its isolation, or its penchant for retribution. (Page 30)

Accountability without possibility creates despair, for even if we know we are creating the world we exist in, we cannot imagine its being any different from the past that got us here. (Page 48)

[…] a citizen is one who is willing to be accountable for and committed to the well-being of the whole. That whole can be a city block, a community, a nation, the earth. A citizen is one who produces the future, someone who does not wait, beg, or dream for the future. (Page 63)

The weakness in the dominant view of accountability is that it thinks people can be held accountable. That we can force people to be accountable. Despite the fact that it sells easily, it is an illusion to believe that retribution, incentives, legislation, new standards, and tough consequences will cause accountability. (Page 71)

Accountability is the willingness to care for the wellbeing of the whole […]. (Page 71)

And for more on the topic see my previous thoughts generated by the writing of Ann McGee-Cooper here.

So are we like the chicken who avoids accountability by blaming others through attempts at holding them accountable — or do we take ownership for what we create?