Blaming Management LO9630

Don Kieffer (dkieffer@harley-davidson.com)
Fri, 30 Aug 1996 13:31:08 -0500

Replying to LO9593 --

When something does not go right or when something goes wrong does it mean
that someone has done something "wrong"?? If you believe that people are
rational beings and that their behavior is rational, the key to changing
the behavior is understanding the thinking and pressures behind the
behavior (unless force, fear, or intimidation is used). Both sides can act
rationally and situations will still go into crisis. I believe that nature
gives many examples of this.

Isn't blaming management is one part of a two-sided failure mode? What has
been done to make sure that management (as if management has a singular set
of traits) clearly understands the issues? What is the result when these
types of messages are delivered? Somedays it takes courage to deliver the
real message; somedays it takes leadership to for a manager to hear the
real message and react to it constructively.

Where does our cultural bias toward the little guy cross the line between
innocuous conversation and failure to hold up our part of the bargain?

from Don Kieffer dkieffer@harley-davidson.com


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