Blame versus accountability

Blame tends to err on the side of being unreasonable and unforgiving. Accountability forgives the forgivable but does not accept the unacceptable.

Here’s what blame does:

• Blame examines responsibility to condemn and punish.
• Blame focuses only on what went wrong.
• Blame is black and white in its assessment.
• Blame is emotional.
• Blame is personal.

Here’s what accountability does:

• Accountability examines responsibility to discover what can be done.
• Accountability focuses on what happened and what needs to be corrected.
• Accountability explores the complexity of situations.
• Accountability is reasonable.
• Accountability examines situations, decisions and behaviors rather than people.

Source: From the article Beyond Blame. Meryl Runion and Speak Strong (SpeakStrong) provides Power Phrases (PowerPhrases) and other tools to help you improve communication skills at work and at home. She is the author of the books PowerPhrases!, How to Use PowerPhrases, Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisors and How to Say It: Performance Reviews. She can be reached at 719-684-2633 or by email.