Most organizations struggle with accountability. Either they lean into punitive, shame-based systems that kill motivation, or they avoid the topic entirely and hope things work out. Neither approach works.

In this conversation, organizational coach Lisa Gill and I explore what accountability actually means in progressive organizations and why it's one of the hardest things to get right.

We discuss:

• Why accountability feels so uncomfortable (and what shame has to do with it)
• The paradox of choice and responsibility: you can't truly say yes if you can't say no
• How to make commitments relational instead of abstract
• Why explicit agreements are essential (and how to create them)
• The difference between blaming and supporting
• Practical tools like confirmation practices and self-scoring systems
• How to have difficult conversations without making people wrong
• Why true accountability is actually an expression of love

If you're building a more human workplace but finding that people aren't following through on commitments, this conversation offers a different way forward.

Key insight: Accountability without shame requires friction and discomfort. There's no system that removes the need for difficult conversations. But when done well, it helps everyone become bigger versions of themselves.

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About Lisa:

Lisa is an organizational designer, coach, and host of the Leadermorphosis podcast. She works with organizations exploring more participatory and human ways of working.

Learn more: https://www.reimaginaire.com/

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Mentioned in this conversation:

• Peter Koestenbaum & Peter Block - "Confronting Your Freedom"
• Doug Kirkpatrick - Morningstar & commitment keeping
• Mia Mingus - Disability justice activist on accountability
• Adrienne Maree Brown - "Loving Corrections"
• Helen Sanderson - Confirmation practices
• Frederic Laloux - Self-correcting systems
• Jan Carlzon - "People with information cannot help but take responsibility"

I talked with Rich about the essence of community. We dive deep into what defines a community, the importance of community in personal and societal development, and practical ways to foster a sense of belonging and solidarity. Rich shares personal anecdotes and experiences from his journey in community building, touching on topics like emotional maturity, hierarchy, and the impact of hospitality.Here are my favorite quotes from our conversation:

• “Community is the people that bring you soup when you're sick.”
• “Consistent repetition, orchestrates attention and builds shared identity.”
• A key aspect for creating connection within a community is hospitality.
• “When a community is really alive  it is like a super organism. Whatever is the issue, someone is at hand. Whatever is the need, someone is there with the skill or the resources. Whatever you need is gonna get met immediately”
• “ When a community is really alive  it is like being accepted in a transformative way.”
•  “That internal polarization, is like a knot that just keeps getting tighter and tighter.”
•  “It’s my belief, my orientation in the world, my understanding that all of the challenges that we face as a civilization are solved by better coordination, better collaboration, namely more community, more shared identity, more investment in each other, more care for each other, and that we need an enormous number of people to be taking responsibility for weaving the social fabric for constructing shared identities.

My conversation with Steffen centers around performance evaluation and profit sharing.I’ve known Steffen since we first met at an org exchange in 2017, which was an exchange format between progressive companies. He later hired me at kartenmacherei where he had stewarded the company culture and we worked there together for 5 years.During that time, he has become a trusted friend and advisor. I highly appreciate Steffen for his sharp analytical skills. So when I came across a logical flaw in how I had understood performance evaluation and salary setting, it was an obvious choice to ask him to challenge my thinking. Especially, since we have 5+ years shared history of creating and iterating on these processes.He did not disappoint and we had a deep discussion while keeping it fun. As always, time spent with Steffen was energy-positive and I think you will enjoy it as well.For this episode in particular it is valuable to watch the video as I share my screen to visually explain the flaw in the logic that I encountered as well as sharing my current draft of the policies.

• Profit Sharing Policy
• Salary Setting Policy

If you want to find out more about me, you can do so at https://newworkbydesign.comMusic by audionautix.com