Who's at Fault?
"Nothing is easier than fault finding." - Og Mandino
Who did it?
Something happens that should not have happened. A mistake was made. Somebody forgot to do something. Someone did too much. Someone gave out the wrong information to a customer, and so on.
At some companies, there is a hunt for the culprit, so that blame can be placed. It might almost seem like an obsessive witch-hunt.
Forget about the hunt. It doesn't matter exactly who did it. You don't always have to put the blame on one particular person. Good people will often make mistakes, that’s how they gain experience and learn.
Rather than wasting time figuring out who caused it, figure out how to fix it and prevent it in the future.
If it was YOU who mailed something to the wrong address, don't worry about it - fess-up and move on to figuring out how to prevent it in the future.
Adopt this message in your workplace: "We don't care whose fault it was. Mistakes happen and we learn from them. How do we fix it and prevent it in the future?"
I have often read an interesting story about Thomas J. Watson CEO of IBM. It goes something like this:
Thomas Watson, Jr., CEO of IBM between 1956 and 1971, was a key figure in the information revolution. Watson repeatedly demonstrated his abilities as a leader, never more so than in this story.
A young executive had made some bad decisions that cost the company several million dollars. He was summoned to Watson’s office, fully expecting to be dismissed. As he entered the office, the young executive said, “I suppose after that set of mistakes you will want to fire me.” Watson was said to have replied, “Not at all, young man, we have just spent a couple of million dollars educating you.”