I was at a party over the holidays
and a dish got broken.
As I asked the hostess
where the broom was
to sweep the broken pieces up,
she asked me
“Who broke the dish?”
My reply?
“Why does it matter
who broke the dish?”
It didn’t.
The person was embarrassed already.
It was an accident.
The incident wouldn’t be repeated.
Assigning blame wouldn’t accomplish
anything except make the person feel even worse.
When I lead projects
and mistakes happen,
I ask myself the same question.
“Does it matter
who made the mistake?”
Almost always
the answer is no
so I don’t attribute the mistake
to anyone.
There’s no upside
vs a downside of possibly
alienating the mistake maker.
Unless necessary,
don’t name the team member
who made the mistake.