Accountability has for the longest of times been touted as one of the key pillars of governance, for very good reasons. Can one talk about governance without accountability? Especially when you consider the fact that we are living in a world where complexity is not only the order of the day, but the degree of complexity is also constantly increasing? Amid all the chaos it would be a fallacy to ignore the importance of accountability. Yet, there are often signs that accountability is either not understood at a deep enough level or, where there is a real understanding of the concept, it is not always being practiced as it should – perhaps because we tend to see its applicability for others, but sometimes battle to see how it applies to us, because we know our intentions (or think that we do).
When Ethics and Compliance Cast a Shadow
5 August 2026
Some topics are not easy to write about. Not because we do not know what our views are about them, but because we know how easily the views may be misunderstood—especially by those who prefer a version of pristine ethics and compliance that does not allow for shadows.
I know. Ethics and compliance shadows? That is where you land when you take the liberty—perhaps a little audaciously—of borrowing a concept from one discipline and applying it to another. I have borrowed from psychology and found the result illuminating enough to risk a few furrowed brows.
