In a business meeting or social function, few words cut through the din and kill the mood more quickly than “accountability.” It is one of those words that instantly sets one on edge despite its familiarity and every day usage. After the recent conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, policy makers and pundits alike pointed to accountability as they spoke about the trial outcome. Accountability is something that people understand, yet seems to become harder and harder to define the more one seeks to move beyond rhetorical flourishes to examine the word itself. For example, rather than providing a straightforward definition, Merriam-Webster’s listing for accountability leads one down a series of root-word associations such as accountable and account to ultimately land on something related to the four R’s of accountability: Respondents, results, records, and rationale.