Who’s To Blame?
The fact of the matter is that things don’t always go well. There are glitches. The “best laid plans of mice and men”, can absolutely run amuck. And what happens when things go wrong? Too often we want to find out who’s to blame. Who didn’t take care of business? Who let the details slip through the cracks? Of course when a supervisor asks these questions of staff, people begin to defend, deflect, rationalize and explain. They are not at all interested in owning any part of the fiasco.
While this may seem to be a logical way to figure out what went wrong, I would like to suggest that beginning with the people is not the best place to start. Certainly people contribute to the things that happen, but if you don’t understand the situation and what could have been the cause of the glitch, then you may never resolve the issue.
In his book, The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge talks about Systems Thinking and the importance of the Five Whys’ Perspective. He gives the example of oil being found on the floor underneath a motorcycle. A systems thinker will ask “why” there is oil on the floor (the blame game person will just want to know why someone hasn’t cleaned it up). If you go down the path with the Systems Thinker and ask why there is oil on the floor, you will discover that the gasket is leaking. If you ask why the gasket is leaking, you will discover that the gasket is defective. If you ask “why” the gasket is defective, you will discover that purchasing got a great deal on gaskets. If you ask “why” purchasing took such a great deal if the gaskets didn’t perfectly match the specs, you will discover that the company policy is to look for the “best” deal rather than the “best product” because lowest price trumps everything. This line of questioning will take you to an understanding that the root cause of the problem is not that there is oil on the floor but rather that the company has a policy that prevents it from purchasing the best product.
Think of how differently the “whys” sound if you answer with a person. The discussion sounds like this. Why is there oil on the floor? Response: Because the janitor didn’t clean it up. Why didn’t the janitor clean it up? Response: Because the supervisor didn’t tell him to do so. Why didn’t the supervisor tell him to clean it up? Response: Because the supervisor never goes on to the floor. And so it goes, until every person has a piece of the blame and sadly, the very next day, there will be oil on the floor again, and no solution has been achieved.
Think about the importance of being a systems thinker and how understanding this might help you problem solve at the systems level to strengthen your program. Let us know what you think—or even how you think.
Consult 4 Kids has a long history of advocating for youth and the adults who are their positive role models and mentors. To learn more about our work, please visit our website at www.consultforkids.com, email us at support@consultfourkids.com or call us at (661) 617-7055.