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.
Look at any accounting firm website and there is a fair chance that the word ‘proactive’ will be prominent. Ask some business owners and taxpayers whether they consider their accountant to be proactive. There is commonly a gap between the two, between the intent of the accountant and the expectations of the client.
The tag ‘Trusted Advisor’ gets bandied around a lot. Without trying to be deliberately contentious, I often challenge its use. Undoubtedly, accountants were once the trusted advisor to their clients. When I came into the profession 44 years ago now, the older partners, especially, were seen by their clients as their trusted advisor, their ‘go to’ person on any issues, business, family or personal, that were troubling them. Without the filing deadlines of today, these clients were with their accountant primarily because they valued the relationship rather than the products.
All accountants are the same! We’ve all heard it said. It’s nonsense, of course, but, when you are asked what it is that your firm does that differentiates it from other accounting firms, it can be a challenge to come up with something tangible. Accounting firms tend to offer similar services, that’s what makes them accounting firms. Differentiating from competitors based upon services provided is therefore an issue.