Week 34 - ending 8/26: Whose Fault is this!

I used to work in a company whose CEO would respond to any problem by asking, "whose fault is this?!" Instead of digging down to figure out what happened, why and how to respond in a positive way that makes things better. He only cared about whose fault it was so they could be reprimanded. Never in the process was there an attempt to better the people or situation.

I am now working on a project and, due to that same behavior, the project has gone from joyous to contentious. I understand that in order to determine why something went wrong, we need to determine where it went wrong. That often ends up being a person and/or process that a person is following. However, if every person is afraid of getting in trouble you are not creating an environment of free thinking or comfortability in trying and making mistakes.

I make many mistakes, some are truly mistakes, others are purposeful. In either case, I will be the first to admit I messed up once I realize my error. I will live with the repercussions because I own my actions. However, I am noticing more and more that this world is not accepting of errors or mistakes. This world does not foster an environment to make mistakes and therefore does not foster an environment to try things. Who would dare try things knowing if they messed up they could be yelled at, publicly shamed on social media or fired.

This environment of not being accepting of anything less than perfection makes me sad. Some of my greatest stories and lessons are a result of messing up and making mistakes. How far can a person go if they never make a mistake?