I think philosophically this is a good rule of thumb; the problem is that the euphemism treadmill (or whatever) has done its work.
"Accountable" is meaningless therapy-speak now.
CEO says "oh, this was a big problem, that we leaked everyone's account information and murdered a bunch of children. I hold myself accountable" but then doesn't quit or resign or face any consequences other than the literal act of saying they are taking "accountability".
"If a house builder built a house for a man but did not secure/fortify his work so that the house he built collapsed and caused the death of the house owner, that house builder will be executed."
While extreme, this is the only type of meaningful accountability: the type that causes pain for the person being held accountable. The problem is that (for better and worse) in the corporate world the greatest punishment available for non-criminal acts is firing. Depending on the upside for the bad act, this may not be nearly enough to disincentivize it.
Studies show that sentences like the death penalty do not actually reduce crime. There's a reason there's a saying that stems from Hammurabi's Code, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
My understanding is that this is not a settled issue, and there is dispute about the evidence, conflicting studies, and so on.
Regardless, to the extent that it's true, it's imo likely more to do with the nature of crimes of passion, and is certainly not evidence against the effects of incentives in general. Death penalty aside, if you are doing any kind of work, and you know you will be held accountable for errors in that work in ways that matter to you (whether SLA agreements, getting sued, losing payment, etc), it will change the way approach it. At least for the most people.
The flipside is I have seen "accountable" used basically as arbitrary threat. Hold accountable for whatever I don't like without regard to any mitigating circumstances.
"Accountable" is meaningless therapy-speak now.
CEO says "oh, this was a big problem, that we leaked everyone's account information and murdered a bunch of children. I hold myself accountable" but then doesn't quit or resign or face any consequences other than the literal act of saying they are taking "accountability".