June 2, 8:57 am
Do you Assign Blame, or Seek Solutions?
Recently I’ve engaged in several conversations on the subject of blame. The huge oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is probably what brought it to the forefront, but here are my thoughts on the subject:
Placing blame seems to fulfill a need in people, but it’s a false fulfillment. Think about it — when something goes wrong, the first thing some people do is look for who to blame. Then, once a culprit has been identified, the finger-pointer steps back, smug and satisfied, as if to say “there — I’ve done my job.”
In other words, finding “who to blame” provides some morbid sense of fulfillment … as if a task has been completed. The accompanying sense of accomplishment seems to be satisfying enough that it stalls any efforts to resolve the actual problem.
But the “problem” still remains!
No learning has occurred.
No behaviors have changed.
The optimal end-results have not been achieved.
The “Assign Blame” mentality has no place in effective leadership. A truly fulfilling and much more effective approach is to seek first to resolve the problem. It ought to be common sense . . . but it’s not as common as it ought to be.
The “Seek Solutions” approach is much more effective. Instead of first seeking who to blame, the leader first seeks a resolution to the problem. This approach is effective for problems of all sizes … from oil leaks in the Gulf to a misplaced file or pair of scissors.
Maybe it would help those who choose the Assign Blame approach to remember something many kids hear from their mother: “I don’t care who made the mess, just clean it up.”
Does blame ever play a part? Yes, but only afterwards, and as a springboard for learning. After a problem is solved, a leader needs to ask questions like “what caused the problem,” “what could have been done differently,” and “what will we do in the future to prevent this from happening again?”
Are you the kind of leader who Assigns Blame, or Seeks Solutions? What kind of leader do you want to be?
Filed in Motivation, Management, Leadership, Team Building, Workplace, Corporate Culture
Thankyou for enlightening me on assigning blame. My wife recently passed through a long illness and this problem was persistnt and escalated as years progressed. Others judged me by her comments and journals she left in which She vented.
Thankyou, I spent 7 years in theralpy trying to cope with the problem. Jan Blasco
Jan -
I’m glad the article helped.
- Dan