Our action orientation: What stops, and what propels

Roger Conners, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman have together put together a book titled "The Oz Principle".This is one book that has had immense effect on my ability to get results through individual and organizational accountability. A part of the proposed model and theory is extrapolated on the events you just saw in the video.

The boy did it, and it is very inspiring to see that happen. While we would like to identify ourselves with the boy, we must also be aware that we often play the role of others in the scene.

Let's take a peek look at what others were doing in the scene shown in the video:

1. He was waiting and watching.

2. They were confused, and were thinking tell me what to do.

3. This man is convinced that it is not his job

4.These men are clearly ignoring and denying what's going on.

5. This lady is finger pointing, blaming multiple others as reason for this situation

6. This man covered his tail, declaring his helplessness and inability.

The following image gives a summary of different stances that stopped people from taking action.

Most of the above stances describes me in many situations at work and at home. While those stances give me comfort and a 'valid' reason for inaction, I come to understood that they never let me move forward and get things done both at a personal level and at a team level. Some of my predominant ones are 'confusion', 'It's not my job', and 'wait and see'.

What are yours?

A good reflection on this is worth the effort - for the person of action you intend to be. Because bringing things to our conscious is half the battle won. Otherwise, we get entangled in what is called a victim cycle, often without our awareness.

Now, lets reflect on what the boy did, and what enabled him to turn around the situation.

He followed a simple but powerful four step process. He saw it. owned it. solved it. and did it.

These are the steps to accountability. We see the situation, we own it, solve the bottlenecks / problems and take action for progress and completion.

I highly recommend the book - "The Oz Principle" for further exploration.

Wishing you all well.

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