Taking Responsibility

Often when mistakes occur we tend to lose our ability to think coherently and wander aimlessly trying to assign blame rather than taking responsibility for our actions

I was going to write about change and how we deal or try to deal with change, however recently I have come into contact with a number of people who appear unwilling or unable to take responsibility for their actions.  

Re-spon-si-bil-i-ty = the state of being the person who caused something to happen (Merriam Webster)

Maybe one of the most difficult things we can do is admit we goofed, however I am always surprised when I work with or come across someone who is resistant to admitting that maybe they are infallible.  Is it a fear of embarrassment or reprisal, from boss or other?  For me when a mistake/error, call it what you will, occurs, my first reaction is have I learned anything? The same question arises when a colleague finds that they have goofed, what have they learned?  How will those learnings impact their future decisions?  Now I have to be honest its taken a long time for me to come to this reaction, but it is now my reaction of choice and it makes life so much easier!  Of course, no major disasters have occurred in my life because of a mistake I made!  What about you, how do you react to mistakes?  Have you tried to view it in this light?  What would it take to change your current reaction to one of review and non blame?

I wonder when we learn to deny our responsibility, is it as children when our siblings or friends tell us how much trouble we'll be in? Is it later when we do something we know our parents would disapprove, or when our friends egg us on, or we don't think and the consequences are bad and we're afraid of the reaction from family, friends or worse?  Think about it, how different the World could be if we all admitted to our mistakes and shouldered the responsibilities that came with admitting those errors! 

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