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The OARBED model for business behaviour
Richard Brewin • April 14, 2020
I should admit from the outset that I don’t know the actual derivation of this model, and Google doesn’t offer much help either, so I can’t rightfully credit anyone, but it is a model often used by business coaches.
I like it because of its simplicity and unarguable logic.
OAR stands for Ownership, Accountability and Responsibility. Each of these is categorised as ‘above the line’ behaviour in the model.
BED stands for Blame, Excuses and Denial, each categorised as ‘below the line’ behaviour by the model.
So many of the challenges that face an accountant as an advisor and an employer fall into grey areas, subjects where there are multiple factors at play and no one single solution. Quite often, this ‘greyness’ becomes an excuse for inaction.
As a mentor and coach I find that deliberately ignoring the grey and, instead, focusing on the black and white, can help to trigger the actions required to fix the ‘grey’.
What do I mean by that?
Well, by focusing on what you know you should and shouldn’t do (the black and the white) we can then create the momentum to fix the challenge (the grey).
This is why I like the OARBED model. We all think below the line at times: blaming elsewhere, making excuses, denying responsibility, and sometimes that can be quite valid. The fact of the matter is though that we don’t actually start fixing things until we move our thinking above the line: Take ownership, make ourselves accountable, and take responsibility.
The test therefore is not whether you think below the line, that’s often the natural place to start, but how quickly you switch your thinking to above the line.
I recommend that you place graphics of OARBED in the working and meeting areas of your office. It can be a very annoying image to have stuck there but try arguing against it.
It’s a great reminder that we can all have a moan or make excuses but that fixes nothing…what really matters is ‘what are you going to do about it!’
Good luck.
Accountants selling to their clients is a topic as old as the profession itself. I regularly hear criticism from those looking to monetise the accountants’ relationships with their clients that “accountants can’t sell”. I also come across an attitude within the profession that “accountants shouldn’t sell to their clients…it’s unprofessional…it’s not what my clients expect”. Let’s tackle the issue.
Back in the 60’s and 70’s, when I was a lad, doing the family laundry was a time consuming chore. Mum would disappear into the kitchen and close the door so that the noise around the rest of the house was at least manageable. She would be in there for hours, swapping between washing, rinsing and squeezing out. Every so often the noise level would resemble a fighter jet taking off on an aircraft carrier as the tumbler element kicked in and then she’d reappear, wooden tongs in hand, to ask for help to reposition the twin tub that had danced across the kitchen floor.
Do I deal with the client who is shouting the loudest, the most pressing deadline, the thing that is most stressing me out, the best thing for my cash position, the team member who is stuck without my help, the thing that I had set out to do today or any one of all those other issues that are lined up at my door? I would love to give you a definitive or simple answer but, of course, there isn’t one. Welcome to every day decision-making, not just in an accounting firm but in life!
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