Accountability

This blog is in response to a suggestion made by Todai Thelwall in regards to blogging.  I've linked her blog here as well for reference. 

https://knightofpentacles2.blogspot.com/2024/04/blog-metrics.html

I actually had an in-depth conversation about this over the weekend and so have had lots of thoughts spinning about.  My response became so lengthy I decided to record it as a blog.

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I did something similar to your [Kat's] spreadsheet after the meeting for 2 reasons.  One, I wanted to look deeper at my own blogging to ensure that I was fulfilling that requirement and not off in La-La land only THINKING I was nailing it, but really wasn't.  Two, my personal perception was actually that the blogging this year has actually been MUCH BETTER than previous years, and so I was somewhat surprised that the subject of this surprise meeting was blogging.  In my first couple years on the team, there was only a small handful of people blogging consistently.  So I wanted to see if my perception was accurate and to maybe even "stick up" for the team a bit and say "it's actually better than ever!".  And even though my perception was accurate...and yes, more people are blogging regularly (or very close to) than previous years...it was quickly and clearly pointed out that this doesn't change the fact that this requirement has been made SO super simple, that there are really no excuses anymore for EVERYONE not to be fulfilling it 100%.  And I honestly couldn't find any way to disagree with that.

We are already supposed to accurately track our numbers in such a way that we should always know exactly where we are, at any given moment.  And we are already supposed to blog each week.  These 2 requirements have now been COMBINED to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.  If we have nothing else to include in our blog, we simply post the numbers we should already have.  And even if we HAVEN'T been tracking...or HAVEN'T been completing our numbers...we simply write 0.  And BAM, blog is done.  It's literally that easy.  Sure, our numbers may not look great...and a person might be embarrassed to post them so they choose not to...but that just means we've failed with 2 requirements.  At least posting a zero fulfills the blogging requirement and we can still at least feel good about that.  NOT blogging is a simple choice of doing it or not.  We can't say we didn't have time...we can't say we have nothing to blog about...we can't say we are bad writers.  It's laid out now in such way that answers any reason we can come up with.  And I think this is why the Master instructors are so concerned that they felt they had to hold a special meeting.  If we can't fulfill this requirement at such a simplified level, how will we ever progress to a Master level? 

I had a few ideas myself to try to help people remember, or be more accountable...or have a topic....or, or, or...but any way you look at it...these ideas just ADD another step...another requirement.  And the blogging is already set out to be as simple and easy as anyone could possibly make it.  A super simple subject is already set out and all we have to do is copy/paste/revise and hit "publish".  

Having said that, all ideas are potentially good ideas and can often spark others.  So it's awesome that you [Kat] have taken the time to try and come up with something to help the team.  You are always ready and willing to take on more to help the rest of us, and you have no idea how it feels to have a team-mate like that.  So keep that shit up.  Lol.

However, I would be hesitant with this particular approach.  Although you are absolutely correct, this info is technically already public and we shouldn't be opposed to having it displayed, I could see it causing more guilt (as Todai Bauer mentioned) and maybe even resentment rather than a means of support and accountability as intended.  The problem for me would be knowing that a fellow team-mate was specifically keeping tabs on my numbers in the background...and then shining a light on them for all to see and saying "this person is doing good"...and..."this person is not".  Although it's pretty clear who is or who isn't, this public spreadsheet almost makes it a blatant comparison between team members...which is a very slippery slope, as we all know.

One of my first thoughts when Sifu Brinker asked us for input on how to fix this was "Well, there's really no accountability when people don't fulfill a requirement.  People need to be more accountable."  (And please note that this thought includes myself as there are requirements that I am behind on as well). I brought this up in a conversation later, as feedback...but I really didn't have an answer on what that would mean or look like.  After thinking on it alot more afterwards, I realized that there are a couple different ways to approach "accountability".  A person can be HELD accountable by someone or someones.  Or they can BE accountable for themselves.  The difference is akin to "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime."  We often say (and hear) that being part of a team makes us accountable.  And being accountable can often provide motivation.  But I realize now that this accountability isn't (and can't be) set by the team.  It needs to be set by the individual.  The team can't make us accountable.  We CHOOSE to make ourselves accountable to the team.  I found the following quote and it really brought it all together for me.

"Accountability is the attitude and practice of willing individuals to take responsibility for themselves and to communicate with others about their choices and behavior so they can show their integrity and grow in maturity." - unknown

As a team I think we continue to provide suggestions, support, challenges and encouragement.  We can pick each other up, offer hugs, cheer and clap.  But "to do" or "not to do" needs to be left to the individual in order for them to truly grow.

IHC Numbers To Date
Pushups = 10508
Situps = 10402
Fan = 253
Long = 197
Sparring = 190
Km's = 248
AOKs = 209