The Oz Principle summary

In the story of The Wizard of Oz, the Cowardly Lion represents a struggle many of us face – the need to find the courage to confront reality. Like the Lion, people often avoid facing uncomfortable truths about their situations, preferring the safety of denial or excuses. The first step toward personal accountability is to muster the courage to see things as they truly are, even when the reality is difficult to accept.

This ability to “See It” means acknowledging when things are going wrong, even if it reflects poorly on you or your organization. Facing reality, though challenging, is essential for moving forward and finding real solutions. A good example comes from Schering-Plough, a pharmaceutical company that had to recall millions of products due to poor manufacturing oversight. The CEO took full responsibility and implemented sweeping changes to correct the issues. This kind of leadership shows how acknowledging failures and seeing the truth is a foundation for success.

In The Wizard of Oz, the Tin Woodman’s desire for a heart symbolizes the need for emotional commitment and ownership. This idea of “finding the heart” to fully own your circumstances is essential for personal and organizational accountability. Just as the Woodman sought a heart to truly feel, taking ownership of your actions and their consequences requires you to face the sometimes uncomfortable realities of your situation and your role in shaping them.

Owning your circumstances doesn’t mean acknowledging success when things go well and shifting blame when they don’t. It means accepting responsibility for both positive and negative outcomes. This shift in mindset allows you to move beyond excuses and start creating solutions. Take ALARIS Medical Systems, who faced significant performance issues following a merger. Despite initial struggles, once accountability became the focus at all levels of the company, ALARIS saw remarkable improvements. Product quality soared, delivery times improved, and their stock price increased by 900%. This transformation came about because employees at every level took ownership of the problems and committed to finding solutions.

The Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz symbolizes the wisdom to solve problems – a key aspect of accountability. Though he believed he lacked brains, his journey reveals that he had the capability all along. This wisdom isn’t about intelligence; it’s about adopting the right mindset and continuously asking, “What else can I do?” to find solutions that lead to results.

The essence of a “Solve It” mindset is focusing on real issues, and not imagined ones. Toyota offers a prime example. As competitors struggled with overcapacity and declining sales, Toyota chose to rethink its processes, improving efficiency and expanding production. Their success came from identifying true problems and innovating to overcome them, rather than reacting to surface-level issues.

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s journey highlights an important lesson about accountability. Like Dorothy, we often possess the means to achieve our goals but may not realize it until we fully embrace our responsibility to take action. The final step in accountability – “Do It” – requires you to go beyond simply seeing, owning, and solving problems. It’s about taking deliberate action to turn intentions into results.

One of the key insights here is that accountability for results isn’t just about acknowledging your circumstances. It’s about committing to act, even when it’s difficult. The story of David Glass, the former CEO of Wal-Mart, exemplifies this. He didn’t just observe problems from a distance; he was constantly present in the stores, working with employees to find ways to improve. His approach was hands-on, ensuring that no task was left undone, no problem ignored. This kind of persistent action is what it means to “Do It” – not just reacting but taking ownership of results and consistently moving forward.