The Oz Principle

Written by Roger Connors, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman

Narrated by Wayne Shepherd

The Oz Principle is the groundbreaking work that demonstrated the vital role of accountability in the achievement of business results and the improvement of both individual and organizational performance. With more than a half-million copies sold, The Oz Principle has emerged as one of the most influential and useful business ideas of recent times.
  The Oz Principle shows how to overcome The Blame Game that is so prevalent in organizations today. By taking the Steps To Accountability® and helping people See It®, Own It®, Solve It® and Do It,® the authors help people take accountability and move Above the Line® to take ownership for overcoming obstacles and getting results. The book spells out how to capture the power of positive accountability by helping people at every level of the organization ask the question, “What else can I do?” to achieve the result.
  The Oz Principle changed the fate of hundreds of companies because it works! People want to be accountable. Taking ownership of a business is exciting. So is improved performance. That’s why accountability has become a core management value for thousands of organizations throughout the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oasis Audio
• Release date: Jul 1, 2003
• ISBN: 9781608145621

Reviews for The Oz Principle

[gtliddle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this book as a result of a training class I took entitled Achieving Accountability. The book delivers a modern perspective on an old topic. The concepts provided in this book are not necessarily new or innovative, but rather re-packaged using terminology that has been updated to the current day. The authors have done a good job of communicating the core ideas of Accountability and describing its wide berth in terms of adopting it as a core value within yourself.Overall, I would recommend this book as this is a topic that is always relevant and important to remind yourself of the different areas where accountability applies.

[ebnelson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

With a focus on accountability and its corollary, empowerment, there’s a lot that’s good here. Connors et al. shoehorn business lessons into the framework of The Wizard of Oz pulling out lessons that are ironic when one considers Baum’s work. But although it is better to view workers as people who are endowed with the unique skills that empower them to make a difference (as a opposed to replaceable cogs without free will), the assumption of the authors is that in large corporate environments like the ones they profile in their books, the accountability of average workers can make a difference. Sure, if an executive takes responsibility, there are measurable results that matter. But are we to believe that an instructional designer or systems consultant’s actions aren’t so obscured by layers of bureaucracy that the customer/client will really be able to tell the difference?