One of the things we love most about our classroom space is watching it come to life with people from across our community — not just our own team, but other organizations who need a great place to learn, connect, and grow.
Recently, Vistage brought their group into our space to host a seminar with Robert “Cujo” Teschner, a multiple award-winning fighter pilot, #1 bestselling author, and one of the U.S. Air Force’s original architects of modern post-mission debriefing. From 2004 to 2006, Cujo helped develop the methodology military teams still use today to self-correct and continuously improve. His message, “Debrief to Win,” is simple but powerful: teams get better when they take the time to understand what happened — what worked, what didn’t, and what they’d do differently next time.
Our own Rebecca Watson attended, and she walked away with a few lessons worth sharing.
The biggest one was about accountability — and how often it’s misunderstood. Accountability isn’t pointing a finger. It’s taking full ownership of the outcomes we’re part of, regardless of rank or title. Not the things completely outside our control, but the part we did play, and what we could do about it. It’s easy to say, “I did what I could, but they dropped the ball.” It’s much harder — and far more useful — to ask, “What could I have done differently to change the outcome?” That question is where real accountability starts.
Accountability also requires clarity. Teams can’t be held to expectations they don’t understand, so everyone needs a shared sense of purpose, what success looks like, and what standards apply — consistently, to everyone.
And accountability isn’t just for when things go wrong. Cujo’s approach calls for debriefing the wins too, asking questions like: Did we actually earn the win? What worked? What didn’t? Did we get lucky anywhere? What should we repeat, and what should we change? Because it’s possible to make a poor decision and still get a good result — and if we only celebrate the outcome, we risk teaching ourselves to repeat the wrong behavior.
None of this works without trust. People need to feel safe enough to be honest about mistakes without fear of blame, and a team that can’t have that kind of honest conversation can’t really improve. Debriefing also doesn’t have to wait until a project wraps — sometimes the most valuable pause comes before things go completely off course.
Rebecca’s biggest takeaway: accountability isn’t about protecting yourself from blame. It’s about caring enough about your team and the outcome to own your part, learn from it, and make the next attempt better.
Cujo summed up the process in a few simple steps: Plan, Execute, Pause, Debrief and Own It, Learn, Adjust, and Do Better Next Time.
We’re grateful Vistage chose our classroom for this session, and even more grateful when moments like this ripple back to our own team. That’s what our space is for.