"Blame Culture"

I've heard the word 'blame' being used in a lot of different contexts recently.

At work: our senior leadership team standing up and giving a speech on how, "we need to remove this blame culture that we've got. If anyone's to blame, I am. Blame me."

Recently with the UK Brexit campaign. The 'remain' voters blaming the 'leave' voters for their bad decisions.

The black and cop shootings in America.


It made me realise that as long as we have this word, 'blame', as long as it was available to be allocated to someone or something, it'll exist and be used.

Yes, there are times where it's appropriate to blame people. Horrible people who do terrible things.

But so many other times, like at work, where none of us turn up thinking, "today I want to do a bad job": it's not appropriate. Like in a country, where our kind neighbours were shaped by the information they were given, and are now the enemy: it's not appropriate. Not just 'not appropriate', it's outright toxic with the potential to be lethal. It destroys something that we need in order to move forward. It destroys our ability to work together and collaborate. As soon as there's blame allocated, it dissociates us from the guilty party. It creates an 'us and you' situation. Even if the person you're blaming is yourself. You're the one in the wrong. I'm the one in the pure white clothes, the victim of this situation. There's no collaboration any more. No possibility of it. There's only segregation. We can isolate them, and give them the blame. And their resentment of being shunned will be enough for them not to want anything to do with us, either.

Often a company is only as strong as their weakest part. The bottleneck for production. Is it wise to isolate our weakest link?

In a country, it divides the people and makes the country weaker as a whole. At best it creates benign, uncomfortable segregation. At worst it eats the country whole, each side destroying the other, fueled by mutual hate.

Why do we do this? Because it's easier. It's easier for our egos to take, if we don't have to come to terms with the idea that we might be part of the problem. That the systems and ideals we advocate are part of the problem. If we can push everything that's wrong with this world into a small little box, to externalise all of it. And then send it away, where we don't have to associate it with us.

Because God forbid that we try to relate with the people who 'are at fault'. God forbid we turn to them and say, "how can I help? How can we all help make this world a better place?"