I watched a short animation where Brené Brown spoke about the act of blaming. Brown speaks and writes about dynamics that impede our development and effectiveness.

According to Brown, many are inclined to blame. When Blamers encounter an issue, they spend their initial energy on determining who was at fault and raging about it as compared to digging deep on the causes of the problems.

Brown makes this observation. Blaming, whether blaming yourself or others, is the opposite of accountability. When we blame, we aren’t solving. When we blame, we aren’t improving. When we blame, we are drifting in a bad place.

To be accountable, we avoid that initial blast of blame. It’s forming a new habit of exploration.

Unwanted situations call us into a problem solving mode. The problem is the task.

How do we turn this around?

What information gaps existed that caused the issue?

What procedures failed us?

Are responsibilities assigned correctly?

Have we taught effectively all that must be learned to prevent recurrence of this issue?

Do you get the difference? We start by listening, questioning and investigating. We leave blaming aside.

That’s being accountable. That’s lean.