Skip to Content
Mewngofnodi
The Sinking of the Titanic - Blair McPherson
Blair
McPherson
null
Blogiau
The Sinking of the Titanic
Blair McPherson
Published Date
1 Year yn ôl - 175 golygfeydd
Does anyone really still believe the captain should go down with the ship? Must someone always be to blame and should that be the person in charge?
As a senior manager I always signed up to the view that when something goes wrong we should resist the temptation to find out who was to blame. It’s not just that a blame culture makes people afraid to make decisions, inhibits innovation and risk taking,it’s unfair because when something goes wrong there are usually a range of reasons why.
My experience of working in Local Government taught me a lot about the difference between accountability and responsibility and what happens when the media and politicians call for some one’s head. The management mantra is that you can delegate responsibility but not accountability. But the distinction is often lost in the heat of the outrage following a tragedy like the death of a child. The public clamour is for both the social worker and a relevant senior manager to lose their jobs. The Chief Executive and Leader of the council who between them cut the training and staffing budget which as a result led to an inexperienced social worker managing a complex case with insufficient supervision from an over worked line manager are not considered responsible. The social worker and line manager made the mistakes. But they had boss who was suppose for ensureing they did their job competently and professionally, they must be held accountable, so the head of child protection is also thrown under the bus.
As a result of this witch-hunt to find someone to blame the lessons learnt never extend to the strategic causes which are not identified or addressed. We shouldn’t be surprised tragedies keep happening despite all the guidance provided to social workers and their supervisors!
This may be an extreme example of how the blame culture works but most organisations are far to quick to try and identify some one to blame rather than look beyond the individuals mistakes at the wider context which made the likelihood of mistakes greater.
Blair Mcpherson former Director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
blame culture
which hunt
Sylw (0)
0
Adroddiad
Mwy o Gofrestriadau Blog
No smoke without fire
Blair McPherson
15 Rhag
What happens on a Christmas team outing is never spoken about again. You wish.
Blair McPherson
19 Rhag
0 Sylwadau
Reply as...