Blame Culture Blues - How the Language of Blame Manifests Organisational Underperformance

If you have ever worked within a large organisation then you are sure to have heard the term 'we will not have a blame culture' at some point. However the sheer fact that this statement can be made is an indication that a blame culture already exists.

Where the statement 'don't think of the colour blue', immediately makes one think of blue, the 'no blame culture' statement is more likely to raise within the organisation the possibility of blame than remove it. In fact an organisation must know what blame is to be able to think about removing it from the culture.

Just as a desert nomad would have little concept of (or for that matter use of) snow, an organisation that has no concept of blame will have no use for it - it just doesn't enter into the minds of management or employees. Any business that is talking of 'letting go of the blame culture' must already have one, they are just avoiding facing up to the reality of the situation.

In business, as with any endeavour, it is vitally important to focus on what you do want rather than what you don't and a statement of 'no blame' is likely to introduce it into an organisation where it didn't exist before.

Just like the Inuit who have more than 50 words for snow organisations try to rename blame into something else to avoid the issue, however this is often sloppy thinking and leads to more rather than less problems.

So what should companies do to eradicate blame from their culture. The answer appears simple but can be difficult to implement. The real solution is eradicate it from the language, not just blame but all of the polite euphemisms used also need to be removed from the organisation.

No big campaign. No coasters or stress balls. No cultural change programme. To remove blame, remove any reference to it from the culture.

Now, this doesn't mean avoiding the issue, often that just makes the whole thing worse, but embracing and accepting that it exists and deciding that (like the snow) it is of no value and as such there is no need to talk about it will make an amazing difference to the way the business operates.

Instead introduce a culture of partnership, of respect and of co-operation, make real acceptance the goal of your coporate culture. Accepting that people make mistakes and that this is doubly true when under pressure will immediately change the corporate psyche.

This is no quick fix and requires real resolve from all areas of the business but once the concept takes hold it spreads like fire through every part of the organisation. Oh, and what of accountability and resposibility? People become more responsible and are willing to be held accountable as they know that they will be respected for who they are and what they can achieve rather than for any mistake they make along the way.

To really eradicate blame from your organisation stop trying so hard and introduce an acceptance culture. It will do wonders for morale and you'll never have to mention the B-word ever again.

More information regarding staff performance, the PRISM© Goal Setting System and additional tools for improving organisational management can be found at http://www.achievinggreatness.co.uk

L Stuart Avery 2005 © Achieving Greatness Ltd. All rights reserved.

----

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link.

L Stuart Avery is the Managing Director of Achieving Greatness Ltd, an organisation dedicated to raising awareness around personal and management behaviours. Achieving Greatness specialises in offering advice and support to organisations going through change intitiatives and looking to enhance the performance of their staff. It provides training courses, facilitiation services and coaching to business leaders on Leadership, Management and Strategy.

Stuart has over 20 years of experience across a wide range of industries including Government, Charities, Retail, Travel, Insurance, IT Services and Logistics.

For more information visit http://www.achievinggreatness.co.uk

---

How To Decrease Profits Without Really Trying

Hurting your sales efforts can be accomplished easily with the... Read More

How to get an Audiences Attention

A trainer dryly discussing how to motivate people in an... Read More

Why Training Fails

Sometimes when I conduct my workshop on Effective Meetings, one... Read More

How to Create an Operations Manual

An operations manual can act as a tool for training... Read More

Nine Vital Lessons For Avoiding Training Fads That Waste Time, Money and Enthusiasm

Unfortunately, at least two thirds of much of the training... Read More

A Comprehensive Sarbanes Oxley Act Summary

Individual and corporate security stand in the center of the... Read More

Strategic Outsourcing: Testing the Outsourcing Waters and Staying Afloat

Before Gertrude Ederle began her historic swim off of Cape... Read More

Ringing Doorbells Without Howitzers

Many operations leaders have been there, done that with re-engineering.... Read More

Five Defining Characteristics of Great CEOs

1. Personal insight. Great CEOs are great leaders. They know... Read More

3 Reasons Why CRM Strategies Fail

Customer relationship management (CRM) is one of the most effective... Read More

Jack Welch--Success Is Getting Back Up on the Horse

A few months ago I had the opportunity to spend... Read More

Creative and Innovative Culture, Change Management ? Three Easy Tests

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Christmas and Business Gifts for Your Clients and Employees!

Tis' the season for business and corporate gift-giving! If you... Read More

Supplier Sees 53% Reduction in Out-of-Spec Orders Case Study

The goal of perfection is a challenge. It is often... Read More

Outsourcing Problem Analysis

As an HR professional, you have responsibilities in several broad... Read More

Big Company Intelligence on a Small Company Budget

Information is the lifeblood of the economy. That's especially true... Read More

Plan for Business Success - 6 Reasons to Succession Plan

Succession Planning provides many valuable assets to your business. Yet... Read More

Performance Management - By Assuming Nothing

Unhappy as Jenny undoubtedly was, she held on very tightly... Read More

Productive Meetings: How to Make Your Meetings More Productive

There's one simple secret to effective meetings: set an agenda... Read More

25 Great Ways to Find the Right People and Not Break the Bank

Are you trying to hire dozens of hourly workers or... Read More

Its All In The Systems

Have you ever noticed french fries taste the same at... Read More

Executive ESP: A Pathway to Success!

We all have psychic abilities that we use daily, although... Read More

7 Essential Elements To Every Organizational Change

[This article is based on excerpts from the special report... Read More

Performance Evaluation: How To Create Change

STEPS TOWARDS GIVING A GOOD APPRAISAL INTERVIEW: Give specific feedback.... Read More

What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

Today's successful organizations are the ones which carry on open... Read More

Whadda Jerk!

If one does not understand a person, one tends to... Read More

Sexual Harassment Policy Guidelines Part II

SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMPLAINT INVESTIGATION PROCEDUREEvery complaint will be thoroughly investigated.... Read More

Avoiding The Sheep Dip

It is a sad fact that many employees are still... Read More

The Top 10 Things They Don?t Teach You In Business School

Here are 10 subjects that academia should be teaching their... Read More

The Communications Myth

Living in the 21st Century is truly marvelous, isn't it?... Read More

The Retailers Calendar

The Julian calendar we use to pass the time every... Read More

Ten Business Reasons Why Asking for Help Works

In fact, bringing your people - any of them -... Read More

HRM: Contributing to Well-being or Ill-being at Work?

If you were to take the people out of an... Read More