A big source of problems in the workplace is when someone tries to pass the responsibility buck. It can be tempting not to pick it up when you can avoid it, since it’s hard to admit a mistake even if only to yourself. Plus then you may have to face real consequences from shame to blame or worse. So you might find reasons why someone else should have done it, told you to do it but didn’t, or told someone else to do it who didn’t. Besides, you may tell yourself, "Why should I be expected to know?" and so it goes.
However, again and again, the failure to take responsibility and shifting responsibility for your own mistakes to someone else is behind breakdowns in group planning and action. A common result is a lack of follow-through and poor communication about whether something was actually done. Another fallout when someone doesn’t take on his or her expected responsibility or tries to pass it on to others is that not only do things not happen, but people can get angry. In fact, read many articles on leadership, and they all echo the theme—one of the keys to leadership is taking responsibility, as well as holding others accountable—a theme former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani emphasized in his own article, Leadership. Or as President Harry Truman put it on a prominently displayed sign on his Oval Office desk: "The buck stops here."
But what if you’re trying to be responsible, but feel others around you aren’t? Does that mean you’ll end up getting stuck with all the bucks? That’s not exactly like winning the lottery, is it?
That’s what Ron began to feel when a colleague in a training company repeatedly looked to Ron to fix problems for him. The company was set up as a network of independent consultants, and it assigned the selected consultants to various projects. Then, consultants were free to bring in other consultants from the training company’s network to help them on an assignment, such as to create a team-leading a workshop or to write materials for a client together. Generally, when one consultant asked for assistance, the administrative office would give an approval, put the assisting consultant on the payroll, and pay everyone once the project was concluded in about two to four weeks.
Ron had done a few assignments on his own without incident, but when he invited Tony, who had built a reputation in his specialty, to assist on a project, that’s when the problems started, and Ron began to feel Tony was unfairly shifting his own responsibilities to him. Though Ron handled the bulk of the workshop, he felt that Tony’s expertise would be especially helpful for a few sections of it. So, with company approval, he called him in. The program went well, and Ron was delighted, but about eight weeks later, he got an angry phone call from Tony, who was just back from six weeks of doing international workshops. Tony complained that he hadn’t been paid, though he sent in his request per company policy. "So why don’t you call the administrative department?" Ron asked. But Tony seemed irked by the question. "No. That’s not my responsibility, and I really don’t have time to chase down someone in payroll about this. It’s your project after all."
For a moment, Ron thought, "But it’s your money and your invoice." But not wanting to make any trouble, he sent out a few e-mails to his contacts in administration and payroll to check on Tony’s invoice and see that he got paid. He pointed out that Tony was a well-known expert in the field, and he didn’t want to antagonize him by late or lost payments, particularly since he might want to ask Tony to participate in one of his future programs. Within a few days, Tony was paid, though it bothered Ron that Tony had called and claimed he was responsible, when he should have easily handled the matter himself. "But it’s no big deal," Ron told himself. "I did it for him, and it’s done."
But then Tony started in a series of other demands, each small in and of itself, but part of a pattern of getting Ron to do something for him and claiming that Ron was responsible for doing it. For example, Tony had some questions about the attendees at the workshop that involved putting together a detailed list of information about them; another time he wanted additional copies of the outline Ron had used to lead the program, since he couldn’t find his own copies and didn’t have the time to make any copies himself from the master.
Though Ron was irritated, he complied, thinking it easier to do so than to make an issue of Tony’s demands. But when Ron asked him to resolve still another problem, he began to wonder whether or not he should continue to take on what he thought were Ron’s responsibilities. In this case, Ron had placed an order for instructional materials to use as handouts at his session, and since he was using some materials that Ron had developed, so that Ron received a small royalty for each sale, he asked Ron to help him find out what happened to his order, giving Tony the name of the client. "It’s urgent," he concluded. "Otherwise, if the articles won’t arrive in time, it’ll be too late for the seminar, and the client will cancel the order."
For several minutes, Ron gazed at Tony’s e-mail, wondering what to do. Not only did Tony leave out some essential order information, like the order number, quantity ordered, costs, and shipping address, but Ron felt that Tony was again turning over another task that Tony should be doing. After all, it was Tony’s order for his own client, though the tone of Tony’s letter made it clear Tony thought that by rights Ron should be handling any follow-up.
By the time Ron came to me for advice, he was thinking it was time finally to confront Tony about taking on these responsibilities himself. He was ready to call or send him an e-mail telling him to take care of his own follow-up for payments and orders. Yet, was that the best thing to do?
What Should Ron Do?
Here are some possibilities. In Ron’s place, what would you do and why? What do you think the outcomes of these different options would be?
- Tell Tony he’s responsible for getting paid and getting the orders, and explain why so he understands.
- Tell Tony you’re too busy to help him now and suggest how he can better take care of these matters for himself.
- Quietly take over Tony’s responsibilities for now, since it doesn’t take too much time or effort to do so.
- Do what Tony has asked to date, but have a conversation with him about future arrangements, so it’s clear who’s responsible for what.
- Other?
In this case, a confrontational approach really wasn’t the best one. Sure, Tony was not being fully responsible, since he should be taking care of his own invoices, payments, and orders. Even though Tony had gotten the assignment through Ron, that’s where Ron’s responsibility ended, much as if Ron had recommended a person for a job, who was then hired by another company to do it.
But even if Tony really should be responsible, it still made more sense for Ron to take care of the matter for Tony as a courtesy, since it involved minimal effort—maybe sending out a couple of e-mails or making a couple of phone calls to check on what happened to the instructional material Ron had ordered. Moreover, even though Tony might be shifting his own responsibility to Ron, Tony still had a powerful reputation in the field because of his expertise, so it didn’t make sense to confront him over something that might take a few minutes of extra effort. Plus if a confrontation did make Tony angry, he might cancel his order for Ron’s instructional materials, thereby reducing Ron’s royalties, and he might be unwilling to assist Ron on his programs in the future. Ron quietly sent off a few e-mails to the order department to ask about Tony’s order; eventually, Tony’s lost order was replaced with a new one. Sure, Tony could have and should have done it himself, though he didn’t think he should. But here it made better practical sense for Ron to humor Tony and take over the responsibility for him, since the time and effort involved to do so was relatively minor, compared to the risks of standing up to him and trying to give that responsibility back.
Likewise, if you are in such a situation, it’s good to take stock of what is going on before you act. For example, consider whether you should be responsible for something yourself or whether you are manipulating someone else into taking on that responsibility for you. If so, even if the other person does what you want, he or she may feel uncomfortable or resentful, even as he or she does what you want, much as Ron felt about Tony’s requests. It’s much better to appeal to the person to do you a favor, since you don’t have the time or feel he or she might be better able to get results than to expect the person to take on what is really your responsibility.
Alternatively, if you are in a situation where someone is trying to shift his or her responsibility onto you, consider the situation strategically to decide whether it’s worth telling the person where you feel the responsibility really lies or whether it might be easier to accommodate the request, even if unjustified. For example, if a request will involve a great deal of extra work, and you feel the other person is taking advantage of your good nature by piling on more work, then this is probably a good time to speak up (unless of course it’s your boss making the demands or your job is at stake). Otherwise, if it might be easier to take on the extra responsibility for someone else, do so. Consider doing this as a kind of courtesy or as a means of following some commonly cited principles for getting ahead, based on "Going the extra mile" or "Delivering more than is expected." So even if someone else slacks off on his or her own responsibility, at times it makes sense to take up the responsibility buck for him or her. Sometimes there are advantages to picking up those extra bucks or the cost of not picking them up can be too high. Then, as you can, diplomatically let others know where you have played this responsibility pick-up game. It’s a way of eventually cashing in your responsibility chips so you win even more.
Today’s Take-Aways:
- Don’t pass on the responsibility buck if it’s in your own wallet.Rather, hold onto the bucks you have, and you’ll find a greater payoff in the future.
- If someone tries to pass a responsibility buck onto you, consider whether it’s worth taking or not; then take it on if it’s worth it to you.
- Sometimes it’s best to view taking on someone’s responsibilities as providing an extra service or courtesy.
- When you feel resentment about taking on someone else’s re-sponsibility, consider how much they may appreciate it if you take it on and the possible conflict that can result if you don’t do something. In other words, what’s the cost of doing something versus the cost of doing nothing? When you weigh and balance them together, that’s what counts.