The Accountability Trap: Why Focusing Too Much on Results Can Backfire and What to Do About It

Local governments are faced with big challenges and are increasingly asked to address hard problems that may require considerable expenditure of public resources. Given the high stakes of the issues at hand, there can be a justifiable interest from elected officials and the public that the government (and its staff) be held “accountable.” This sounds fine in theory, but there are some practical problems with a focus on accountability, especially when projects involve significant complexity, uncertainty, and interdependence. In this session, speakers will explore better solutions to promote "accountability" based on work by psychologist Adam Grant and provide specific implementation strategies.