Blamed - Sociology and Psychology - in Organizations

In Organizations

Some systems theorists and management consultants, such as Gerald Weinberg, held that the flow of blame in an organization was itself one of the most important indicators of that organization's robustness and integrity. Blame flowing upwards in a hierarchy, he argued, proved that superiors were willing to take responsibility for their orders to their inferiors, and supplying them with the resources required to do their jobs. But blame flowing downwards, from management to staff, or laterally between professionals, were signs of organizational failure. In a blame culture, problem-solving is replaced by blame-avoidance. Weinberg emphasizes that blame coming from the top generates “fear, malaise, errors, accidents, and passive-aggressive responses from the bottom”, with those at the bottom feeling powerless and in lack of emotional safety.

A no-blame culture has been widely considered as a means to increase safety, in particular in areas where the consideration of possible human error is important, for instance in hospitals and aviation. Together with questions of accountability, this has also been subsumed under the concept of creating a Just culture.