“As the manager, you agree that you were accountable for the results of the project?” I asked.

“I agree,” Sheila reluctantly replied.

“But the mistakes were made, because the team member thought they were accountable for the results. When the project first got behind, why didn’t they tell you?”

“I guess they thought they could cover it up, catch up with the schedule and that I wouldn’t find out.”

“Because they knew there would be hell to pay?”

Sheila nodded. “Because there would be hell to pay. I guess I did say that.”

“And because there would be hell to pay, the team member thought they should work overtime to fix the mistake. Is that person authorized to make the decision to work overtime?”

“No, and they talked the whole team into working overtime. And they agreed not to write the time down on their timecard. They were really trying to cover up. HR blew a gasket when someone complained they had to work overtime and weren’t allowed to put it on their timesheet.”

“And why did all this happen?” I pressed.

“Because the team thought they were accountable for the result and there would be hell to pay.”