“The Responsibility Poem”
by Charles Osgood
There was a most important job that needed to be done,
And no reason not to do it, there was absolutely none.
But in vital matters such as this, the thing you have to ask
Is who exactly will it be who’ll carry out the task?
Anybody could have told you that Everybody knew
That this was something Somebody would surely have to do.
Nobody was unwilling; Anybody had the ability.
But Nobody believed that it was their responsibility.
It seemed to be a job that Anybody could have done,
If Anybody thought he was supposed to be the one.
But since Everybody recognized that Anybody could,
Everybody took for granted that Somebody would…
One of us was recently at Chipotle eating with our kids, and after receiving our food we couldn’t find any forks in the utensil holder. We told an employee nearby that the station was out of forks and asked if they could grab more. They said they were all out of forks.
So we went to the counter to see if we could find the manager. The manager (or someone assuming the role) said they were indeed completely out of forks. Curious as we are, we asked when they expected to get more. They said forks get sent to them. They just use the inventory in the store to replace what is out.
This Chipotle happened to be next door to a Walgreens. Anyone on the team could have walked over, bought a box of disposable forks, and solved the problem. Which brings us back to Mr. Osgood’s poem:
But Nobody told Anybody that we are aware of,
That he would be in charge of seeing it was taken care of.
And Nobody took it on himself to follow through,
And do what Everybody thought that Somebody would do.
When what Everybody needed so did not get done at all,
Everybody was complaining that Somebody dropped the ball.
Anybody then could see it was an awful crying shame,
And Everybody looked around for Somebody to blame.
Somebody should have done the job
And Everybody should have,
But in the end Nobody did
What Anybody could have.
Technically, everyone was doing their job correctly. It’s unlikely in the Chipotle manual there is a procedure for going next door to the closest Walgreens to buy forks. Yet, if you asked Chipotle’s CEO, I’m sure they would have said something along the lines of “Yes, of course please go buy forks next door!”
Organizations need strong processes to work well. They also need people who can see past what’s written on the page to the actual outcome the process is meant to achieve.
We believe this is why ownership mentality matters so much in hiring. The most effective teams tend to be made up of people who notice gaps and feel compelled to close them. Not because it’s explicitly their job, but because they care about how things turn out.
So the next time you’re hiring, consider probing how candidates react when the process doesn’t cover the situation. Here’s an example case prompt:
“A client emails you with a question that you don’t normally handle day to day. The person who usually answers those questions is out today, and the client is asking for an update before end of day. What do you do?”
Strong answers sound like “I’d reply quickly to let them know I’m on it. I’d answer anything I can, ask a clarifying question about timing, and if it’s urgent, I’d see who else might help or escalate appropriately.”
Weaker answers sound like “I’d let them know that person is out and they’ll hear back tomorrow”, or worse “I’d forward it and wait.”
The difference between high-performing teams and average ones is often as simple as someone deciding to go buy forks next door.
Until next time,
Your Spherion South Central WI & Northern IL team