The concept of responsibility

Responsibility, in our context, is understood as the individual and organisational ability of responding actively to perceived questions and problems. Accepting responsibility is the aim of learning and working together. The desired outcome of organisational learning is that people, organisations, and networks will assume responsibility for their tasks, situations and perspectives. Individual and collective responsibility is at the very centre of all sustainability in organisational development.

Leading people to responsibility is the main objective of facilitating. People who are responsible or perceive themselves as sharers of a common responsibility, be it in an organisation or a network of organisations, will contribute more actively to asking the right questions and to searching for viable answers. Sharing responsibility defines the difference between communities of practice and communities of performance.