The most misunderstood concept in sociocracy and other egalitarian methods is that people confuse lack of power-over with lack of accountability.
Some people say: “if there’s no boss, there won’t be any accountability.” Or they don’t say it, but they act accordingly. Ouch!
But of course, there’s accountability in sociocracy. But we’re often not conditioned to see it.
In organizations, people confuse two things: one is what we’re holding accountable to***.*** That could be a role or a aim/domain or a policy. But the other question is how we hold people accountable - and effectively.
A highly ineffective way, for example, is to make a policy, write it into the policy book and then yell “what you’re doing is against policy” into the void. People who do that are more interested in being right than in holding the other person accountable.
What’s a better way?
Somehow, our minds get a bit twisted when we think about organizations because of all the power-over brainwashing and virtue signaling. So let’s take an example from another area where we can more easily tap into common sense:
Imagine you are in a (healthy) relationship with a significant other. Let’s say that person never does their dishes. Since there is no boss between the two of you, how do you hold the person accountable?
You talk to them. And request a change. And you listen. And maybe you both see the patterns better. Maybe you change your behavior, setting a boundary. Maybe the other person changes their behavior. Accountability lives in relationships. You may decide to change your behavior because you care about our relationship.
There are many effective ways to hold people accountable. Giving feedback, asking for a report, giving a report - on what has been done in the real world instead of words in a policy.
Feedback closes the loop between expectation (policy) to action. So if we want to leave behind a culture where it’s just about being right, and we want real accountability, we have to get comfortable with giving feedback.