The Blame Machine

00:00:01: Think of the best and worst decision you've ever made.

00:00:18: Hello, welcome to this episode!

00:00:20: If you haven't found your Best & Worst Decision yet hit pause and take your time.

00:00:25: if You have decided let me guess what primarily led to Your choice?

00:00:30: Most likely it was The outcome.

00:00:32: when we judge our decisions We usually focus on the result And not On the decision-making process.

00:00:38: Great outcomes get filed under great decisions.

00:00:41: negative results end up in the bad decisions box.

00:00:45: Psychology says that we do this pretty automatically and consistently because a result is tangible.

00:00:52: We rarely engage in deeper analysis of whether good outcome was really consequence or thought process, much more impacted by other circumstances.

00:01:02: And also don't ask weather-bad result arrived despite decision making.

00:01:08: This not only impacts future decisions and our ability to draw the right conclusions.

00:01:13: It also affects learning as we overlook circumstances that played a part, And unfortunately this cognitive error not only steers ourselves self-perception it's also part of management and leadership.

00:01:26: Outcome bias is the misconception That We can reliably judge The quality Of A decision by its result.

00:01:33: Often it goes hand-in-hand with another misjudgment called hindsight bias.

00:01:38: We not only consider great outcomes the result of great decisions, we also rewrite history on how foreseeable that outcome was – a plan worked out and of course where mastermind behind it!

00:01:51: Both hindsight & outcome bias impact how people rate their ability to decide but they're not thinking patterns that influence our judgment.

00:02:01: We use quite a number of them, because feeling in control—in particular and control over our decisions—is the core driver of human autonomy.

00:02:10: In a world full of complexity and uncertainty we need a sense of control –and power to decide–to keep our focus.

00:02:19: It's natural form or rationalization that protects us from anxiety and overwhelm And yes!

00:02:25: We also use it to protect our ego.

00:02:29: Focusing on what we can control and influence through the decisions and choices we make is part of self-management.

00:02:36: Having an internal locus of control puts us in the driver's seat, it allows to believe that our decision actions primarily determine our life while external locus drives a perception.

00:02:49: other forces steer most outcomes.

00:02:52: What do you prefer?

00:02:54: People usually want be in their drivers' seats.

00:02:57: Autonomy is a human need that strongly influences our self-esteem, life satisfaction and mental health.

00:03:05: Now if holding power to decide as the fundamental desire taking accountability for decisions & actions should follow naturally If we decided cross street at red light it's on us if turns out be bad decision.

00:03:20: or think about buying car.

00:03:22: you own budget make final choice And you have to live with it.

00:03:27: Independent of whether a friend recommended a car dealer, praised the model or brand Or if he simply wanted to impress them You own the decision and most people wouldn't blame their friends when The choice turns out be less satisfying than anticipated.

00:03:42: Taking accountability for decisions we make feels fair To most.

00:03:47: When result looks great We naturally claim praise.

00:03:51: How come?

00:03:51: We like find excuses when outcome is bad We can try to blame a friend, the weather or some mysterious circumstance.

00:04:00: Eventually the result is still on us!

00:04:02: But what about our work environments?

00:04:05: Doesn't it feel like responsibility and accountability get passed down from one level to next while decision was made somewhere else?

00:04:14: Business is complex, organizations are as well… And our behavior inside them rarely makes things easier.

00:04:21: If we were exceptionally good at figuring out where decisions should be made, who's responsible for what and who gets the blame while someone else gets the fame?

00:04:31: We'd probably celebrate hierarchies.

00:04:34: The problem is that in complex environments decision authority responsibility and accountability rarely stay in the right balance.

00:04:43: most complaints about hierarchies arise when people feel a loss of autonomy when it becomes unclear who owns what, and a hierarchy gets used to defer accountability.

00:04:55: This happens despite the invention of frameworks like RACI, Rapid & Others which are meant to clarify roles in improved decision-making.

00:05:03: We overestimate our ability to behave completely rationally And we assume that what's been agreed on at Decision Matrix also works in reality.

00:05:13: What we overlook is that basically any hierarchy is defined by how people behave inside it.

00:05:19: It's determined about what we use for, and management has a clear responsibility here.

00:05:25: Leadership determines whether an organizational setup brings structure in clarity or whether it drives the creation of decision vacuums and causes power battles—whether it leaves people without ability to decide while it shields others from taking accountability.

00:05:42: An organization doesn't go bad on its own.

00:05:45: Hierarchies can be healthy or dysfunctional.

00:05:49: They mostly carry a bad reputation when they aren't managed well.

00:05:53: A hierarchy keeps defining itself through how people use it and by who decides, Who else gets to decide?

00:06:00: The org chart doesn't determine who gets promoted.

00:06:03: It's the people with power that make their choice And whether authority is handed to the most competent or the most confident person, it's also in their hands of leadership.

00:06:13: I call this episode The Blame Machine as This Is What Many Organizations Become When They Aren't Built With Clarity and Intention – when a hierarchy becomes primarily an instrument for power-and control….

00:06:26: …And when management & decision making are driven by outcome bias while accountability gets deflected until it lands!

00:06:33: Everyone knows that a plan is just the plan.

00:06:36: Execution is what brings it to life, determines outcomes and most importantly drives exposure which is why we place accountability mostly there at level where work gets done.

00:06:49: But What if decisions led to the plan weren't best start with?

00:06:54: Let's look at common workplace example.

00:06:57: A company decides buy new system manage their customers.

00:07:01: The decision sits with the head of customer service and the Head of Sales.

00:07:05: They own the budget, have the Decision Authority.

00:07:08: As a company is growing fast there's pressure to quickly find a system that can handle growth.

00:07:15: They review offers from several vendors.

00:07:18: Two out three product demonstrations look good so they negotiate what looks like great deal.

00:07:24: Both heads are working from the level of information they have, which is how the majority of their customer relationships work and how they want them to be handled in the future.

00:07:34: So this decision has been made.

00:07:35: Implementation & training are handed over by management team and experts on the tool provider.

00:07:41: Working successfully with the new system is a responsibility for the entire customer service and sales teams.

00:07:48: Now there's many different scenarios for how it can play out!

00:07:52: Let's just consider two.

00:07:54: First scenario, the system fits because the way their customer management works happens to match how that tool was built.

00:08:02: people find few instances where the process breaks but they are manageable within six months.

00:08:08: The implementation is considered successful and the two heads are celebrated for finding a solution fast.

00:08:15: nobody reviews How They Arrived at the result?

00:08:18: Because the outcome says Now the second scenario.

00:08:23: This time, this system doesn't fit so well.

00:08:26: Although it's just a few customers who are affected They're important ones For them.

00:08:31: The sales team has to write proposals outside of new systems And add data later.

00:08:37: This causes delays Errors and frustration on both sides.

00:08:48: He then asked the manager of team handling the customer.

00:08:52: She says that she'd mentioned requirements for these exceptions in a meeting before they invited vendors.

00:08:58: As she was on holiday during demo sessions, thought it had been taken into consideration.

00:09:04: Unfortunately head-of sales doesn't recall hearing this at all!

00:09:09: Who do you think will be held accountable?

00:09:12: And who carries most responsibility to rebuild trust with frustrated customers?

00:09:18: We often assume that problems primarily come from execution.

00:09:23: Bad outcomes don't get examined well enough when reviews stop at the first level findings, because that's where finding faults is easiest!

00:09:32: And going further up to where decisions were made costs time and may get uncomfortable.

00:09:39: Yet with things go well we rarely examine decision making or execution at all... We completely underestimate how much there is to learn from positive outcomes.

00:09:50: Was it really the thinking behind the decisions, or rather the execution?

00:09:55: Which role did luck and randomness

00:09:57: play?".

00:09:58: Nobody asks nobody knows!

00:10:00: And while our scenario one builds false confidence in two people who decided, Scenario Two feeds the blame machine because people will start defending themselves.

00:10:11: That's what outcome bias does at the organizational level.

00:10:15: It confirms the deciders while it exposes the executors.

00:10:19: and even when something goes badly, The Decider's confidence mostly survives When the reason gets found somewhere below.

00:10:27: Maybe the head of sales got distracted in the meeting?

00:10:30: maybe the manager should have presented the exceptions with more emphasis or another presentation.

00:10:37: Maybe the sales team should've flagged this during implementation.

00:10:41: You see, there is rarely one truth to be found.

00:10:44: Everyone can reason their way out of taking accountability.

00:10:48: Unfortunately the blame usually lands on those who don't have the power to pass it on.

00:10:54: Good outcomes usually follow a clear upward attribution while negative ones get passed around until they land on someone.

00:11:02: When things do not go well Someone has been held accountable And interestingly, the majority of management advice focuses on how leaders can hold people accountable.

00:11:14: This wording is quite telling!

00:11:16: Taking accountability as a personal commitment and choice.

00:11:20: Being held accountable feels like we're being chased... ...and under pressure to prove ourselves to someone else.

00:11:27: Now let's be honest about something.

00:11:29: We don't have to hold people accountable when they perform When things go well When things aren't working as planned, when the plan someone decided doesn't produce the outcome they thought it should.

00:11:43: But do we really have to hold people accountable because there's simply not taking accountability?

00:11:49: Would you like to be held accountable for something that you didn't decide?

00:11:53: Maybe most managers quietly know how hard it is to hold People accountable for executing Something They had no say in especially In complex environments.

00:12:04: But the focus on holding people accountable isn't an accident.

00:12:08: We can see it in how leadership is evaluated.

00:12:12: In twenty-twenty five, Gallup ran a survey on seven leadership competencies.

00:12:17: Leaders rated themselves Managers rated leaders above them In their self assessment, leaders rated their ability to make well thought out decisions highest.

00:12:28: Two thirds gave themselves top ratings.

00:12:31: Of the seven total competencies, their lowest score was on creating accountability.

00:12:38: That competency was defined as holding everyone responsible for exceptional performance and fewer than half of leaders put themselves in top categories there.

00:12:50: So this picture these leaders have is that they are really good at deciding.

00:12:55: The more interesting observations lie in the comparison between the self-assessment of leaders and what managers below them saw.

00:13:07: On decision making, just a bit over one third put them on top ratings so that gap was pretty wide.

00:13:15: That's the rating for people who have to work with their superior decisions.

00:13:20: But low rating on creating accountability is given from both sides.

00:13:25: Looks like everyone sees an accountability gap And maybe that tells us, creating accountability by demanding it is the wrong competency to begin with.

00:13:35: We take accountability for something when we can see our responsibility clearly and know our share in the result.

00:13:43: This becomes harder than more complex.

00:13:45: how work environments are.

00:13:48: Holding someone accountable means you have to know exactly what they were responsible for.

00:13:54: You need visibility of what was in their hands and whatnot, and distinguished this from any other influencing factor.

00:14:02: That's forensic work!

00:14:04: How often have you seen a situation where an analysis could've been that clear?

00:14:08: Most situations managers have to judge are far from that.

00:14:13: We rarely have the time to run a thorough analysis And as mentioned we're not really good at working backwards from result.

00:14:21: So on many cases it looks more like a scapegoat hunt than a fair judgment.

00:14:26: Amy Edmondson has given executives full spectrum of reasons for failure in organizations.

00:14:33: The range she gave them went from deliberate deviation and inattention through lack-of ability, process complexity all the way to thoughtful experimentation.

00:14:45: Then she asked them how many failures were truly blameworthy.

00:14:52: The answers were mostly between two to five percent.

00:14:57: Let me repeat, Two To Five Percent.

00:15:00: Next she asked how many failures we're actually treated as blame-worthy acts in those companies?

00:15:06: After a moment of discomfort most executives answered between seventy to ninety per cent.

00:15:13: let the sink in for a moment.

00:15:15: these where same people answering both our questions.

00:15:19: So they know most failures are too complex to put the blame on someone, but their organizations operate as if they're.

00:15:28: Can we blame people for hiding mistakes and failures when this is?

00:15:32: how many companies still handle them?

00:15:34: And consider that complexity already starts when we decide about something we never had to live through ourselves.

00:15:42: Take a simple example A manager decides to extend his shift by one hour.

00:15:48: Next, something breaks towards the end of shift because an employee is too tired to still pay full attention.

00:15:55: Who should be held accountable?

00:15:57: The employee who was tired or manager didn't consider risk before extending a shift?

00:16:03: Or maybe his boss asked him cut costs and this solution he found.

00:16:08: So I'm wondering if holding people accountable in complex systems as hard-to do.

00:16:14: If not every failure is inherently bad but part of progress and learning, why is this still management practice?

00:16:22: Why are we asking managers to hold people accountable?

00:16:26: Complexity is the reality of our world.

00:16:29: Wouldn't it make more sense to create environments that make it easier for people to take accountability?

00:16:35: Environments where leaders are cautious about what's really blameworthy?

00:16:43: Then the competency for leaders to develop would be to build organizations where people know what they're responsible for.

00:16:50: Where they can see the impact of their actions, understand which decisions are theirs and address mistakes and problems before they lead to bigger failures.

00:17:01: Maybe it helps to understand what keeps The Blame Machine running Before moving towards a leadership approach that treats decision-making and accountability differently And we need to look at it with humility and curiosity.

00:17:15: Humility, too.

00:17:16: accept that in a world full of complexity and uncertainty no one can predict outcomes with absolute certainty.

00:17:24: yet We're seeing people confidently presenting predictions about the future every single day.

00:17:29: That's hubris!

00:17:31: It seems to be growing stronger these days.

00:17:33: Curiosity is what puts us back on the ground because a curious mind stays open to being wrong It draws from others' perspectives and ideas, And it keeps us learning.

00:17:44: It also sees failure as an opportunity to explore what happened instead of wasting energy on figuring out who's to blame.

00:17:53: Part of the dynamics that feed The Blame Machine belongs to the organization while the other part is simply human behavior.

00:18:01: A leader has to understand both sides.

00:18:04: So let's look at key influences.

00:18:06: The first is about decision-making being disconnected from the actual work.

00:18:11: Decision authority depends on where you sit in your organization, the higher you sit ,the more you get to decide but less of the work that's usually seen.

00:18:21: That isn't a personal flaw.

00:18:23: it's how most organizations evolve and the faster they grow... ...the harder its to build them with clarity & attention.

00:18:31: This makes well-informed decision making difficult, because managers rarely get the full picture of everything impacting their work.

00:18:38: Not even with the most sophisticated data and dashboards!

00:18:42: We talked about management by numbers before – they rely on all that information travels upwards not just reports….

00:18:49: So it's also what people disclose is working and what isn't.

00:18:54: That why psychological safety is so important and why great leaders make an effort to go the front line, invest in listening to people doing their work.

00:19:04: The second dynamic depends on how information flows in opposite direction.

00:19:10: We rarely invest in explaining our decisions but withholding information that people actually need is a continuous management critique.

00:19:18: Let's face it we're all under time pressure.

00:19:21: It just faster say what people are meant do than explain why.

00:19:26: Explaining also invites questions.

00:19:28: Questions take time.

00:19:30: managers mostly don't have, or at least they think they don't.

00:19:33: sometimes They are simply uncomfortable Or there might touch information that cannot be disclosed to everyone and we all know That information is power.

00:19:43: so We hand over the what?

00:19:45: And keep the why in a smaller circle.

00:19:47: every layer The decision then passes through reduces Information quality.

00:19:52: It gets filtered or even reinterpreted before it reaches the people doing the work.

00:19:58: For them, it mostly arrives as a set of tasks they can just execute – no adjustments or rethinking when it doesn't work as planned!

00:20:06: What changes this dynamic is when we explain decisions and enable people to make decisions closer to their work.

00:20:14: When people know what decision is about They can correct course when needed.

00:20:19: The third influence is that we work backwards, although we're not really good at it.

00:20:24: Most things get reviewed after they happen so we judge based on the result but complexity makes it hard to capture everything that led to an outcome which is why we default to looking for a scapegoat when something goes wrong.

00:20:38: When things go well We take as confirmation That decision was great.

00:20:43: We also overlook the fourth impact that decisions and consequences can sit quite far apart on a timeline.

00:20:51: How often have you seen consequences arrive after The Key Decision Maker has moved on?

00:20:57: Who's being held accountable in such scenarios, mostly people who did work or are still there – not really fair is it!

00:21:05: So before we look at human dynamics think about your own organization… how many of those four do just one or two, all four?

00:21:16: I've rarely seen companies where none of them existed.

00:21:20: Now let's look at the human side because if this were only structural we could redesign our way out.

00:21:26: many companies try to transform but fail to achieve their objectives when they focus on changing roles and reporting lines and ignore typical human behavior.

00:21:37: first of all people attribute differently depending When something goes wrong for us, we mostly judge the circumstances.

00:21:47: when it goes wrong For someone else We judge The other person.

00:21:51: That's a fundamental attribution error.

00:21:53: Even knowing about this thinking pattern rarely gets Us to switch It off.

00:21:58: Then there is our self-protection.

00:22:08: Most of us can say, that was my call and it was wrong in a circle of trust.

00:22:14: Fewer will say at an meeting where our competence is being assessed as soon as the stakes are high we go into protection mode And that protection mode lets us deflect accountability whenever we can.

00:22:27: Next there's this seniority aspect.

00:22:29: The higher someone sits ,the less they get questioned Their error rate becomes less visible to them Blind spots go unchecked and confidence keeps growing because genuine feedback keeps thinning out.

00:22:43: It's what I talked about in the episode called The Confidence Trap, And the last one is something almost everyone does.

00:22:50: at some point A decision arrives that we don't really agree with.

00:22:54: We pass it on anyway.

00:22:56: Rarely do we go back and question it Because That costs us Something too.

00:23:01: The same way authority shields leaders from feedback, it also lets us avoid pushing back on decisions and questioning them.

00:23:09: And when we sit somewhere in the middle... It's easy to say… We didn't make that decision!

00:23:14: But we still helped it pass anyway.

00:23:16: Shouldn't we feel accountable for letting it?

00:23:19: Now let's put these two parts together.

00:23:22: The conditions of most organizations makes deflecting cheaper than owning.

00:23:27: Most people have observed this often enough to read the situation correctly.

00:23:32: You see how easily our own behavior becomes proof of accountability gap?

00:23:37: Organizations then try close it by asking managers hold more accountable, which makes taking accountability for outcomes produced and driven by many influences seem even unfair or costly.

00:23:52: The conditions shape the behaviour and the behavior justifies the conditions.

00:23:57: That's The Blame Machine, And its leadership work to change these conditions!

00:24:03: In our next reflection episode I'll give you practices that help drive better decision-making and accountability taking.

00:24:10: But let me emphasize how important confident humility curiosity trust building and psychological safety are.

00:24:19: They impact How We Make Decisions how much we invite feedback, other ideas and opinions.

00:24:26: They determine How Much We Can Trust Ourselves And the amount of trust people have to speak up and admit mistakes... ...and they enable learning from failures instead keeping the blade machine running.

00:24:39: Taken together these leadership practices help establish an environment where people can own their decisions & actions Where they take accountability.

00:24:49: If you haven't tuned into the episodes on these practices yet, I recommend doing it before The Reflection episode.

00:24:56: I've referenced the episode titles by topic in the show notes.

00:25:00: Now let's look at the implications of AI because AI carries the risk of amplifying the dynamics Of the blame machine.

00:25:08: By now we can see that AI tools Can already do a lot of things much better than us.

00:25:13: Think about the amounts of data It can process at scale and speed how it recognizes patterns we're not even aware of.

00:25:21: AI creates and compares scenarios we'd need weeks to put together, And It builds structured reasoning most of us fail to produce on our best days.

00:25:31: That's extremely powerful especially for decision-making.

00:25:35: But look at what is does some of the dynamics that just went through.

00:25:39: Let's put AI in an environment where most decisions are made far from work In hands managers who don't really see much who don't know about everything that drives value creation, and who doesn't go to the front line to listen.

00:25:54: AI now tells them confidently it can handle most of their work – for example…the work on customer services team!

00:26:02: It shows various scenarios to reduce cost because this is what they asked for.

00:26:07: What won't tell them are customers actually value about service?

00:26:12: Because...that's not what they ask about.

00:26:15: So the decision to replace those workers with AI looks absolutely reasonable from what they know about the work.

00:26:23: Several companies who followed this rationale already found out it wasn't that simple.

00:26:29: In one survey, thirty-nine percent of business leaders said they'd made people redundant because of AI.

00:26:35: Of those fifty five percent now say The Decision was wrong.

00:26:39: Ford rehired over three hundred engineers and quality inspectors after their automated quality control didn't meet the expectations.

00:26:48: So AI amplifies the risk of managers thinking they can confidently decide about something, that haven't fully understood.

00:26:57: We've seen many do it without AI as a helping hand.

00:27:01: The second dynamic was how much information gets passed on with responsibility to execute decision.

00:27:08: This is also already a weak spot.

00:27:10: As mentioned, we avoid the investment in explanations for various reasons but AI can now produce it in seconds for someone who never did the thinking.

00:27:20: so the explanation gap gets filled.

00:27:22: yet missing explanations kept people alert.

00:27:25: they still invited pushback and questions.

00:27:28: Now that AI produces well structured explanations managers can just pass them on.

00:27:34: Who would question decisions that sound so well-reasoned and confident?

00:27:39: Among the human factors, seniority was one influence.

00:27:43: The higher someone sits, the less they're already questioned by other people.

00:27:47: With AI, confirmation for what they think or believe now arrives before anyone can question anything.

00:27:55: No need to discuss it further with anyone Not even their inner circle.

00:28:01: We know that status and power reliably promote overconfidence.

00:28:06: And we also know that AI amplifies confirmation bias, put the power of AI in the hands of an already hard to challenge person... ...and last bit of friction is gone!

00:28:17: Then there's our drive for self-protection….

00:28:20: …we will always weigh what owning a mistake costs us.. ..and go into protection mode when mistakes are high.

00:28:27: But AI now completely changes the price of blame because blaming another person costs something.

00:28:34: They either push back, argue with us or keep a record and become resentful when they feel we were wrong.

00:28:41: Blame was never cost-free but now there's something in the chain that can absorb it perfectly – its AI!

00:28:50: Because technology doesn't pushback It does not feel treated unfairly.

00:28:54: at least you should hope so.

00:28:56: And don't remember this next time.

00:29:00: You can put the whole weight of a bad outcome onto AI and nothing happens.

00:29:05: It's the perfect scapegoat, people are already doing it!

00:29:10: A survey found that twelve percent occasional users have blamed AI for their own mistakes.

00:29:16: Among heavy users was even forty-one percent.

00:29:20: That is not just warning signal but already new habit forming.

00:29:25: Think about what this could look like when we're doing at scale.

00:29:29: Blame was always a terrible way to find out what went wrong.

00:29:32: It never helps us solve the problem or improve our learning.

00:29:36: The risk is that AI will amplify the dynamics That keep the blame machine running if we don't work against it.

00:29:44: So, its on US To build work environments On different mindset Where we explore What happened instead of asking Who did it?

00:29:52: where We distinguish between acts that are truly one person's fault And failures that weren't in their hands let alone blaming them for what bad leadership produced.

00:30:01: And where we accept complexity as the humbling force that should prevent us from decisions and judgments based on outcomes, made in moments of overconfidence – especially with power of AI in our hands!

00:30:16: That's it for today.

00:30:17: If you enjoyed this episode please share it with others.

00:30:21: Connect with me on LinkedIn to tell how I drive decision making and accountability.

00:30:26: Hit the subscribe button to not miss the reflection episode.

00:30:29: And stay curious, stay tuned!

00:30:32: Thanks for tuning into The New Work Playbook where work is better because people matter.