Having a positive atmosphere at work and retaining staff are common goals found in most organisations. Counterproductive to these goals however, but also common in organisations is blame culture. This type of culture at work breeds fear and recrimination and has everyone watching their backs. It also limits peoples learning as they are afraid to try new things or give suggestions for fear of getting things wrong. A blame culture within an organisation also supports the illusion that we are expected to chart a straight course to success and that progress is linear with no hiccups along the way.
Conditioned thinking can lead us to believe there is a link between having to get things right all the time in order to get on in the organisation or achieve future promotion. While it is hugely helpful to plan to get things right first time, fearing making mistakes and the repercussions that go with it can be exhausting and slow down performance.
In a coaching culture where listening and openness are natural, the focus when things go wrong is on learning from what’s happened and finding the next steps forward. In this type of culture people are more likely to come forward with solutions than putting energy into distancing themselves from blame. It promotes honesty in team members as they strive to understand what has gone wrong for the purposes of resolving the problem rather than blaming individuals. It creates strength within organisations as people are supportive of each other and work well together to find a way forward. For this type of culture to emerge within organisations, collaboration and trust replace competition and team members are encouraged to work together for the purpose of the organisation and the customers they serve. The results – cohesive purpose driven organisations and work environments where people want to be and ease and flow are the norm.
To get beyond a blame culture, speed up performance and deal with what matters most to customers email [email protected]
