At the Lean Software conference in London Portia Tung tipped me off about Christopher Avery’s responsibility model. I need to show it to you.
- Denial – ‘Problem? What problem? There’s no problem.
- Blame – ‘I don’t have a problem working with you. You seem to have a problem with me. That makes it your problem. ‘
- Justify – ‘I guess it’s possible that I’ve become insensitive to other people’s feelings and needs. I can’t help it though. After all, I’ve been doing this job for a long time. It’s who I am.’
- Shame – ‘What have I done? I’m going to look such an idiot in front of the people at work. How am I going to live it down? Why should they help me after the way I’ve behaved?’
- Obligation – ‘Tell me what you think I should do. I have no choice but to do it (even though I don’t want to). I’ll do whatever you say. It’s only a job after all (no one can expect to do a job they love).’
- Responsibility – ‘I can wait for them to change but that could take forever. No, it’s up to me. I want to fix the problem. So how am I going to be a better colleague? I know! I’ll listen more. And be more considerate towards others. It’s a start.’
Now test yourself – just how professional are you?
