25th September 2016

Moon shooting

I recently listened to this excellent podcast from radio 4: The Blame Game – 03/05/2016. I heard about various industries in which a blame culture is prevalent: health (midwifery), MI5, sports, politics and others. By the end I came to the conclusion that blame is never useful. It is not the same as accountability; blame is a cop out. It is fuelled by fear and an attempt to protect our own egos.  A culture of blame will stifle innovation,  promote self protection and lead to defensive behaviour driven by fear of reprimand and litigation.

A proposed solution is to create a ‘just’ culture: a culture where we acknowledge mistakes and learn from them, without apportioning blame. This sounds like a good idea in principle, but practical solutions to help us make the cultural switch are lacking.  Also, I can’t help feeling that we can do better.  It just seems a bit flat;  somewhat one dimensional.  Where’s the inspiration?  It feels like we’re heading for mediocrity, by trying to avoid things going badly.  Can’t we try to create something inspiring:  a culture where excellence is given its own status?  Can we not shoot for the moon?  If ‘blame culture’ is downright wrong, ‘just culture’ is safe and mediocre.  I would like to see a nurturing culture where excellence is routinely highlighted and appreciated;  where staff are motivated and their work is regularly celebrated;  where colleagues support each other;  where bullying is expelled and blue-sky thinking and dreaming about a good future is part of daily practice.

It might sound a bit far-fetched, but some days I think we’re almost there.

 

Adrian

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *