Do you tend to confuse consequences with punishment?

Worse, do you confuse them with regards to your people?

The former is a part of a strong, healthy culture, while the latter is a major factor in an abusive one.

• Consequences are the result of an action; they may be good, bad or depend on your point of view.

In other words, cause and effect—doing A results in B.

• The consequence of studying hard is a good grade on the test.
• The consequence of writing a check with insufficient funds in your account is having it bounce.
• The consequence of not immediately responding to an email may be neutral for you, but not for your company.

Even if you don’t like the idea of consequences there’s no way to stop them. Everything you do, say, even think has at least one effect—if not more.

Startups, obviously, are hot beds of cause and effect—both little and large and often with a domino effect.

You land a spot at Vator Splash to introduce your new product, but you’re caught in a massive traffic jam, aren’t available to do the demo and a junior developer ends up talking with your most interested potential investor.

Consequences.

Nobody fault; you can’t even claim responsibility. Stuff happens.

There was no way to predict the accident that created the traffic jam.

Everybody knows that actions have consequences and you’ll lose credibility if you ignore them or claim there are none.

Just remember, consequences have nothing to do with punishment.

Flickr image credit: Oran Viriyincy

It seems that more and more people these days confuse accountability and consequences with ultimatums and punishment.

I thought it would be a good idea to sort this out, since the former is a part of a strong, healthy culture, while the latter is a major factor in an abusive one.

Accountability stems from the public nature of an action, whether planned or unplanned, and usually includes an unstated request for support and a greater incentive to follow through because others know (the reason for making it public).

Weight Watchers offers accountability and support through its public nature.

Consequences are the result of an action; they may be good, bad or depend on your view of the situation.

In other words, cause and effect—doing A results in B.

• The consequence of studying hard is a good grade on the test.
• The consequence of writing a check with insufficient funds in your account is having it bounce.
• The consequence of not immediately responding to an email may be neutral for you and frustrating for the sender.

Even if you don’t like the idea of consequences there’s no way to stop them. Everything you do, say, even thing has at least one effect if not more.

Business, obviously, is a hot bed of cause and effect—both little and large and often a domino effect.

The vp of engineering announces that the new product will be ready for the big trade show.

Accountability!

But…

The developer out for a week of jury duty is late finishing her part of the project, which slows the team and the project itself is late. Just-in-time purchasing finds a crucial part that was available at the original deadline is now on back order slowing the project still more; by the time the parts arrive manufacturing is in the middle of a scheduled software upgrade that can’t be interrupted, which forces marketing to use a prototype instead of a production version for a crucial trade show making it more difficult for the sales team to convince customers that the product will ship when they need it.

Consequences!

Everybody knows that actions have consequences and you lose credibility if you claim there are none, but consequences have nothing to do with punishment.

Your comments—priceless

Don’t miss a post, subscribe via RSS or EMAIL

Image credit: flickr