Accountability

“Ukimficha jogoo kwenye pakacha kuna wakati atawika” Swahili proverb “If you hide a rooster in a basket, he will crow at some point.”

Accountability is an important, if not crucial quality we should embrace if we are to succeed in achieving our goals. I think in one way or another, accountability is inescapable. We can either choose to be accountable of our own volition, or circumstances may and will arise that will cause us to account for our actions or inaction. Accountability keeps us in check and ensures that we attain an inspired harmonious life.I think it is a key ingredient in attaining this way of life. 

I think there are three levels of accountability. We are accountable to the Creator, to ourselves and then to others. Regarding our accountability to the Creator,  Scripture says in Hebrews 4:13 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” David in Psalm 139:7-12 says of God the Creator “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.”

Accountability to the self is governed by our conscience. We may have an accusing conscience, some voice within us that tells us whenever we are doing something wrong. When we ignore these warnings we may descend into chaos. Apostle Paul talks of keeping a clear conscience in a number of his writings. In Acts 24:16, he said he tried to maintain a clear conscience before God and man. He advised Timothy in 1Timothy 1:19 to cling to his faith and to keep his conscience clear. 

Accountability to others includes close family members, friends, relatives, bosses, colleagues, organizations etc. The levels of accountability may vary depending on the people or persons involved. So for instance you may be more accountable to a spouse as opposed to a distant relative. 

For us to live an inspired harmonious life, we should be accountable.

I recall a story of 4 students who were ill prepared for an exam after being away partying for a whole night. There was no way they were going to do the exam without failing. They decided to make up a story to tell their Professor so that they could be excused from taking the exam. They told the Professor that they had attended a wedding the previous night. On their way back to Campus, their car got a flat tyre and they had to push it all the way back. They asked if they could be allowed to take the exam some other day. 

Their Professor listened to their story and was gracious to them. He told them that their test would be rescheduled to be done three days later. The students were so grateful to the Professor for offering them a second chance. 

For the next three days, they studied hard for the exam, taking no chances to ensure that this time round, they would be so ready to tackle the exam. On the day of the exam, they showed up to their Professor’s office, beaming with confidence. They knew they would ace the exam. The Professor told them that they would each go to separate rooms to take their exam. They wondered why but were not worried since each of them was adequately prepared. 

When they each opened the exam questions, they realized there were only two questions as follows: 

Question 1. Write your name (1 point) 

Question 2. Which tyre burst? (99 points)

1. Front right 
2. Front left
3. Back right
4. Back left

When we are not accountable for our daily tasks, it ends up complicating our lives and experiences in the future, akin to the students in this story. They ended up in a tough situation having cooked up a story that their professor clearly did not believe. 

It is crucial to be accountable for the things we do, our tasks, our work because it ultimately benefits us. Being accountable, as it were, is for our own good. 

There is a story told of a mason, who worked for a building contractor. The mason always strove to do his work to perfection. As soon as a house had been designed by the architect and details finalized by the engineer, the contractor would send for the mason and leave the responsibility of building the house to him. The mason would then, without wasting any time, start his work. He would take great interest in his work of building and do it with full dedication. He made sure that he used the best construction material, of high quality, the measurements of the walls, doorways, arches etc. were perfect and he gave an excellent and appealing finish to whatever he built. The owners of the new houses built, would be more than satisfied with the construction. Because of the zeal, diligence, loyalty and persistence that he displayed in his work, the mason was in great demand and fetched good business to his contractor. Subsequently the contractor, paid the mason a handsome salary. He could meet the needs of his family sufficiently, without a problem. 

The mason thus continued working with great devotion for many years, till he became a grandfather. Then he decided that it was time to retire and spend time playing with his grandchildren. Being a firm-minded person, he informed his contractor of his decision to retire from house-building. The contractor was very disheartened to lose such an excellent workman and urged the mason to continue his job, but to no avail. The mason had made up his mind and refused to carry on. 

Finally, the contractor convinced the mason to build one last house on a beautiful and convenient site, as a special favour. The mason agreed to do so with great reluctance, not too happily either. The construction started. It was a most beautifully designed house to be built at a sought-after location. However, the mason could not put his mind and heart in his work. He did his work very roughly and carelessly, without interest or dedication. Even the building material used was of low quality; but he did not care. He simply wanted to complete the job in haste and finally retire. The house was ready earlier than expected – very roughly made structures, weak walls, poor finish and did not look as good at all, as designed. Yet the mason did not care. He informed the contractor that the house was ready and he was waiting to hand over its keys to him. 

The contractor arrived at the site. He had a file of legal documents in his hand. The mason handed over the new house’s keys to him. But the contractor did not step forward to enter the house, to see it. Instead, with a broad smile, he handed over the file along with the house-keys to the mason and said in a beaming happy tone, “These are the ownership documents of this new house in your name. the house is yours. I had planned it as a gift for you.” (http://web.arpanbigboss1.com/)

There are negative effects to our health that are associated with not being accountable. Lack of accountability or keeping secrets has been associated with poor health outcomes. In their research about Secrecy captured in a paper entitled “The Experience of Secrecy, Michael Slepian, Jinseok Chun and Malia Mason, indicate that secrecy has been associated with depression, anxiety, and poor physical health.  Unlike prior studies on secrecy, which found negative health outcomes were relating to concealing of secrets, their findings suggested in addition to that, the more concerning effects of concealed secrets is that they cause mind-wandering. The mind wanders to kept secrets even in circumstances where there is no need for concealment. They found that this going back and forth to the secrets in the mind is what causes negative health effects on the person concealing the secret. 

They suggest “that for many categories of secrets, people frequently catch themselves spontaneously thinking about the secret outside of concealment settings more frequently than they work to actively conceal the secret in relevant social interactions. Such a result would suggest that one of the problems with having secrets is that they distract us from current activities. Thus, a commitment to withhold information about an episode may increase the accessibility of the episode in memory and thus the likelihood that people spontaneously think about the event. Furthermore, to the extent that the secret serves as a reminder that one is being disingenuous, a random thought about it could lead to feelings of inauthenticity, and thereby decrease feelings of well-being.” So in essence, there are two ways keeping secrets affect our health through the aspect of concealing the secret and arguably more so, through the aspect of our minds wandering, ever so frequently, to the secrets we are keeping. This, according to Slepian, Chun and Mason, affects our health negatively. 

It is granted that there are situations where someone must keep a secret say as part of a job or if it is required by law, but that does not remove the effects of keeping the secret. One has to find ways to deal with this through seeking expert intervention such as therapists or meditation as Slepian et al suggest. However, the best way to deal with it would be to find a confidant, a trustworthy individual that you could open up to in such matters that may be weighing up your mind and heart. This is the sure way of lifting that load, regaining balance and achieving harmony. 

So what is your view regarding accountability?

When you think about it in some way, accountability is inescapable. We may delay it as long as we possibly can, but somehow we will need to be accountable. Jesus says in Luke 8:17 “For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.” I therefore think it is prudent to be proactive and live accountable as far as it depends on us. As Joseph Fort Newton said “A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last.”