The Extreme Ownership Accountability
Take ownership of everything and avoid excuses
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 90%
The Extreme Ownership Accountability is a decision rule for taking ownership of outcomes and avoiding excuses. Jimmy describes the mechanism: when something goes wrong → assume it could have been in your control → don't make excuses → take accountability. The key is to think through every possibility before blaming external factors, and to care enough to ensure your best effort. Jimmy says that if you just thought through it more and really cared, it could have been in your control. This is the core of his handbook, which he wrote with his employees when he was 22.
Origin
Jimmy says this is from a handbook he wrote with his employees when he was 22.
Core principles
- 01Take ownership of everything that happens
- 02Don't make excuses for things that could have been in your control
- 03Think through every possibility before blaming external factors
- 04Care enough to ensure your best effort
How to run it
- 1
Take ownership of everything that happens
When something goes wrong, assume it could have been in your control.
Pro tip Don't make excuses for things that could have been in your control.
- 2
Don't make excuses
When something goes wrong, don't make excuses. Instead, think through every possibility before blaming external factors.
Pro tip Care enough to ensure your best effort.
- 3
Think through every possibility before blaming external factors
When something goes wrong, think through every possibility before blaming external factors.
Pro tip Use the data to identify what went wrong.
- 4
Care enough to ensure your best effort
When something goes wrong, care enough to ensure your best effort.
Pro tip Use the data to identify what went wrong.
In the wild
Jimmy describes a handbook he wrote with his employees when he was 22. The core crux of it is extreme ownership and don't make excuses. He says that if you just thought through it more and really cared, it could have been in your control.
→ The handbook is still used today and the core crux of it is extreme ownership and don't make excuses.
Common mistakes
Making excuses instead of taking ownership
If you say something was out of your control, it could have been in your control if you just thought through it more.
Not caring enough
The key is to care enough to think through every possibility.
Is it for you?
Best for
Leaders and entrepreneurs who want to take responsibility for their outcomes and build a culture of accountability.
Not ideal for
Situations where the outcome is truly out of your control and you're being blamed unfairly.
From the transcript
“the core crux of it is like extreme ownership and don't make excuses”
“sure I guess it was out of your control but it could have been in your control if you just thought through it more”
From the episode
MrBeast: If You Want To Be Liked, Don't Help People! I Lost Tens Of Millions On Beast Games... But I'm Worth $1 Billion!