After a recent speech, I was asked an interesting question by an audience member. What are the most important lessons organizations have learned during the pandemic and that we all should remember going forward?

I think there are three: peripheral vision, adaptability and innovation, and prioritization.

Peripheral vision is defined as “being the outer part of the field of vision.” I describe it as the ability to look all around. In business we tend to talk about the importance of strategic vision, that is, the ability to look ahead. The pandemic is a reminder that we cannot predict the future. So often, the most transformational events are not foreseen at all or are so poorly understood that we ignore them completely as we look ahead. There are so many examples: the introduction of new technologies that completely reorder winners and losers in an industry; the dotcom bust or the financial crisis; terrorist and cyber-attacks; a pandemic. Or, on a somewhat smaller scale, perhaps a competitor or key partner does something unexpected or an important customer set reacts unpredictably.

When accountability fails, there are some standard reasons given. Last week we talked about how robust planning upfront helps a team get beyond the “circumstances have changed” reason. If people are using the “I didn’t understand,” “I didn’t agree,” “We have too much on our plate,” “Someone else we rely upon didn’t deliver” reasons, it’s usually because the decision- making process was sloppy and rushed upfront.

In other columns we have described the importance of the Leadership Framework. This tool focuses a team’s attention on goal-setting, clear and explicit decisions about who is going to do what and how work should be organized to achieve agreed-upon goals, and the establishment of a framework of metrics that allows the team to track progress. The Leadership Framework is a tool that helps us achieve clarity of purpose and alignment around who does what and how we will measure ourselves. Clarity and alignment are vital to establishing accountability – as well as to re-establishing accountability when someone drops the ball.

Last week we talked about why confronting and correcting a failure in accountability is so critical. Without accountability, there is no high performance, there is no positive change, there is no growth in a team’s capabilities. We also examined a number of reasons people give for why they should not be held accountable: circumstances have changed; I didn’t understand or agree; others I rely upon didn’t deliver; I have too much on my plate, etc.

Over the next couple of columns we’ll talk about how to address all of these and how to commit once again to deliver and be held accountable. A leader must deal with WHY there has been a failure to deliver against commitments. When people give a reason for their lack of accountability, it is not enough to simply call people out and say “do better.” It may feel good, but it won’t change anything. Every reason given for a failure of accountability needs to be examined and worked through so people can recommit and get back on the right track. If the “why” of the failure is not understood, an organization will not learn from its mistakes, or correct its behavior, or improve its performance, or deliver against more difficult or complex commitments next time.