I was thinking about Kumquat, again. Constantly.

This time, I was trying to figure out why the idea behind Kumquat appealed to me, so that I could explain to other people why its an important shift in thinking.

Somehow, “I think it’s a good idea” just doesn’t carry that sort of cache I’m seeking.

And then it dawned on me. The value of Kumquat is that you’re making yourself accountable.

Not your company. Not your boss. Not your peers. You. You’re making yourself accountable.

And that concept is the same thing that’s driving the whole Getting Things Done (GTD) space, as well.

We are struggling to make ourselves more accountable. To create artifice and process to help us engender that accountability. We are, for lack of a better term, self-managing. Because no one else seems capable of doing it.

Why is that? Why are we searching for ways to enforce our own accountability?

I think there are two primary reasons:

1. Business has failed.
   For those of you on the corporate side of the desk, it is becoming more and more apparent that the businesses goals for you and your goals for you are rapidly diverging. The business doesn’t manage you so much as it uses you. And, as such, you’re forced into managing yourself. You want to make yourself more accountable.
2. You have succeeded.
   For those of you out on your own, you’ve done so well you’ve worked yourself right out of a support structure. Failed though it may be, it did provide some process. But now, you’re your own boss. And you want to manage your employee(s) as you always wanted to be managed. You want to be accountable.

Are there other reasons for this thirst for accountability? I’d love to hear your take.