It is important to understand the problem. Even more important to understand the cause of the problem.
Many people confuse the cause of the problem with blame. Blame, no matter how well placed, rarely gets you closer to the solution, even creates distraction that prevents forward steps.
In what way can we fix (mitigate, prevent) the problem is a more useful question.
Thank you Tom. I really appreciate this message. Why waste our energy with blame when we can instead work on prevention, and finding a better way?
My personality is quite direct and I appreciate direct discussion. I find that when people attempt to address and issue without putting blame or shame on an individual or team that dropped the ball, the message can become so softened and obfuscated that it is unclear how to prevent the issue in the future.
Consider:
“We all need to remember to use our PPE every time”
vs
“The warehouse team is not wearing their masks”
“It is too hot in the warehouse when moving products and wearing a mask”
“Ah! is there another type of mask we can provide them? get some temporary spot-cooling? other solutions?”
In our organization we talk about the shotgun approach versus using a rifle. Some situations need to be directly addressed and others are appropriate for the whole org. I would rather err on the side of being direct when addressing the issue than risk beating around the bush.
I fimnd this situation often when working with presidents and CEO’s.
This is almost always an emotional reaction and not a thought out response.
Funny thing is they almost always get back around to the cause, after burning a few down!