You can rely on me

Responsibility is a common trait of successful and trustworthy teams and highly impactful individuals.

It is the cornerstone of success and proof that a team functions well since its members can carry the torch and deliver top-notch results without anyone monitoring their activities or babysitting them.

"I want to take responsibility here" means please consider me accountable for that. You can rely on me. I have your back. I want to carry the torch and be the one who pushes this forward until the very end. It is on me if I fail, but if I manage to deliver, I'll take pretty much all the credit. Fair, right?

This is an essential trait for getting things done, going the extra mile, innovating, and delivering value when the stakes are high.

# Responsibility and Innovation

All the fantastic things we have enjoyed using recently were built by people with an absurd level of commitment and motivation during the past 100 years. Their dedication and passion lead to some fantastic results.

We might know names like Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, but some highly committed people surrounded these visionaries, so they managed to ship top-notch products. We are hugely mistaken if we neglect that we need great teams to deliver remarkable results, not just some brilliant individuals or thinkers.

What a blessing to work with such committed and results-driven teams, right?

# Responsibility vs. Excuses

Often, though, responsibility feels like a burden no one wants to carry, so numerous excuses can arise to pass the torch to different hands as long as it goes away.

Am I the team lead or the Head? No. Not my business. Tell me what to do. That's on you.

The pile of excuses can easily stand taller than Mount Everest. Easy! Unfortunately, it happens pretty frequently since responsibilities always come with extra duties and workload.

# A fun Parable to sum it up

Let's read this excellent Parable, which elegantly and humorously addresses team collaboration, excuses, and false expectations. Enjoy!!

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody were members of a group.

There was an important job to do, and Everybody was asked to do it.

Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody would have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry because it was Everybody’s job.

Everybody thought Anybody would do it, but Nobody realized that Anybody wouldn’t do it.

It ended up that Everybody, blamed Somebody, when Nobody did, what Anybody could have done.

Unknown author of condensed version of Charles Osgood’s – A Poem About Responsibility.