BEM Readers,

Welcome on a rather sad Sunday for Poland.

With all the events between Poland and Russia around us, I would like you to look at a common problem in all areas of life, especially in business – blame.

„The Blame Game” – is the act of flipping the question: „Who is responsible for…”

Leaving politics behind and focusing on business, blame is a common tool for every employee from the assistant: „I did not know it was supposed to be done this way…”, to the top management: „We were informed so by the government/ministry…”. So, is there a right or wrong answer for who is to blame for a crisis; faulty product or service ? That depends on many factors.

Take this sitation for an example: it is a zero-sum game when you are just starting out at an IT/software company and you mess up a formula or press the wrong button. You get the blame. But should you really? Is it you who pressed the wrong key combination or your supervisor who did not tell you what the appropriate way is? His response would probably be: „Well you could’ve asked me…”, right?

Blame is a psychological reflection of our self-image. If you think of yourself in a healthy way i.e. „I am a valuable person with some flaws…” than it’s easier to say „Yes, it was totally my fault, sorry.” However, most of us have a different type of mirror. There are no flaws! „It was obviously not my fault, I have been with this company for 15 years! The blame is definitely on the side of the trainee. He just did not ask me for the right key combination!”

Ben Dattner, author of „The Blame Game”explores this field to get to the core of the problem.

Ben’s book talks about how our personality, background and values affect what he calls „the blame game” – taking or pointing out blame to others.

Dattner explains: „In the short-term It is very tempting to blame other people when things go wrong, when a failure occurs, when a mistake is made, but unfortunately the blame game can be quite dysfunctional for individuals and organizations because it slows down or prevents learning. If your default reaction is to blame other people it is unlikely that you are going to have a nuanced understanding of all the complex factors that acutally determine organizational outcomes.”

So, to recap: Our above example of a new employee vs. supervisor reflects the problem of the blame game. In the short-term the supervisor feels much more comfortable by pointing the blame to the new hire, while he steps out of the picture. On the other hand by answering: „Yes, I admit it, I could have instructed him better in asking questions when necessary…” would affect the organizational policies & procedures and minimalize such situations in the future.

Yet it is so hard to admit failure and take the blame, especially as a Pole. Poland has an issue in the fact that it has been in the middle of political/culutral turmoil for centuries, hence its citizens suffer from „the blame game” and we could point out countless examples in business, politics, education, law, the health sector and sport industry.

We won’t change the country’s attitude and mentality by just reading a blog or a book on blame, but we can allow ourselves to understand our individual approach to „the blame game” and try to work on it when the next situation comes up.

There are 11 personalities with blame issues that Ben Dattner has distinguished, that fall into 3 categories:

1. „Blames Others”

2. „Denies Blame”

3. „Blames Oneself”

Check which one is yours and think twice whether you want to stay in that type

Listen to the full interview with Ben Dattner on the HBR’s blog.

Have a blame-healthy week.

Krzysztof „Chris” Dargiewicz

USEFUL VOCABULARY:

1.  common – powszechny

2. blame – wina, winić

3.  to flip a question – odwrócić pytanie

4.  to leave something behind – zostawić coś za sobą; zmienić temat

5.  faulty – wadliwy; zepsuty

6.  factor – czynnik

7.  zero-sum game – gra o sumie zerowej; prosty rachunek

8.  to start out – zaczynać (pracę lub firmę)

9.  self-image – obraz samego siebie; autopercepcja

10.  flaws – wady

11.  trainee – praktykant; stażysta

12.  core of the problem – źródło problemu

13. to point out – wytykać; wskazywać

14.  in the short-term – krótkoterminowo; „na krótką metę”

15.  to arise -pojawiać się; wznosić

16.  dysfunctional – zaburzony; patologiczny

17.  to prevent – zapobiec; wstrzymać

18.  unlikely – mało prawdopodobny

19.  nuances – niuanse; odcienie

20.  complex – złożony; skomplikowany

21.  to determine – ustalić; ustanowić

22.  to recap – podsumować

23.  to reflect – odbijać; ukazywać

24.  new hire – stażysta; nowy pracownik

25.  to instruct someone on – poinstruować kogoś

26.  turmoil – chaos; wrzawa

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Welcome back BEM Readers,

The recent events in Japan have horrified nations all over the World. A very high-power earthquake and tsunami have shattered parts of the country. Now comes the time of recovery. While the country works on putting itself together, academics and business experts watch in awe how the Japanese culture handles crisis management strategies.

Find out more at Garr Reynolds „Presentation Zen” blog that inspires us to create better, visual and well designed presentations HERE.

Coming back to the ground theory, Crisis Management is: „the process by which an organization deals with a major event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general public.” (Wikipedia)

There are 3 stages in any type of crisis:

1. The diagnosis – evaluation of the scale of the problem and possible implications
2. Choosing a relevant Turnaround Strategy.
3. Implementation of the change process and its monitoring.

Now let’s take a look at how the Japanese citizens responded to the recent events:

1. Full awareness of the scale of the problem

2. Flawless communication with the public and foreign media

3. Organising rescue missions and „cleanup crews”

However, the most intriguing has been the behaviour of survivors of the „Japanese natural crisis”. They were calm, did not raise any panic, followed the instructions and „went with” what was expected of them. This creates a role model for the rest of the World, where such crisis management might not have taken such a direction. The reaction depends largely on a type of culture, size of the problem and its implications on the public and environment.

Crisis management in business.

The model is usually:

1. Panic

2. Shout (does not have to be physical, i.e. – emotional lay offs)

3. Shout at the employees you think are responsible

4. Apologise as you find out it was not their fault (in the positive scenario)

5. Organise a tactical/strategic meeting to prevent „such future occurances”

6. Pray it does not happen again.

7. Repeat the model from point 1 as a new crisis arises

As employees we tend to run scared from management and as managers we tend to blame others for screwing up, hence all the shouting.

What can we learn from the Japanese culture?

That sometimes quiet, calm approach to a crisis is much more effective in coming up with a „Turnaround Strategy”, yet as Western Culture has inflicted in our minds: „If I don’t do anything about it, the situation will be much worse”. Not necessarily, you just have to clear your mind and stop shouting.

Sometimes looking around and acknowledging that our „10% drop in shares or sales figures” is not the end of the world, a 9-point Richter earthquake is.

Have a calm week and if there is a crisis take it easy.

Krzysztof „Chris” Dargiewicz

USEFUL VOCABULARY:

1.  to shatter – zniszczyć

2.  to recover– wyzdrowieć

3.  to put itself together – naprawić coś

4.  academics – naukowcy, wykładowcy akademiccy, teoretycy

5.  to watch in awe – patrzeć z zachwytem

6.  to handle a crisis – poradzić sobie w sytuacji kryzysowej

7.  to evaluate– ocenić; przeanalizować

8.  implications – skutki; rezultaty

9.  implementation – implementacja

10. to face something/somebody – stawić czoła komuś/czemuś

11. to raise panic – wszcząć panikę

12. to go with something – zgadzać się z czymś; akceptować coś

13. occurance – wypadek; zdarzenie

14. to arise -pojawiać się; wznosić

15. to inflict – narzucać

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Dear BEM Readers,

This week it is time to relate our post to an important political/business event – Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk visiting Marcin Meller’s „Brunch” program on the TVN TV station.

If you have not heard of it before, take a look over here.

WATCH: Marcin Meller „Drugie Śniadanie”

Why was this program so important? It was a first step towards recovery of the Polish politicians Public Relations. The program’s guests were some of the most recognized artists, the s0-called „celebrities” Tomasz Lipiński, Zbigniew Hołdys and Paweł Kukiz. It was a breakthrough scene for such a meeting. To date the only meetings held with politicians were stiff press conferences or interviews with pre-agreed scenarios and questions that made them predictable and limited. What has changed? Well for a starter, the PM had no idea what will the questions look like. He had to face what was coming at him from an unpredictable set of artists. Just the fact that he agreed to join such an uneasy setting was an effective PR move that subconsciously communicated „Yes, I am open for discussion”.

Most of the questions were a hard nut to crack. Tusk was accused of (among other issues) the ineffective Polish political system, taxation and financial limitations of the Polish art industry, endless road construction and lastly hiring over 80 thousand new administrative staff, going agains his initial political promise of cutting down on them. Whether you support him or his party, it goes without say Tusk was brave to even accept that invite. Imagine being on a board of directors of Lehman Brothers (who were partly responsible for the global financial crisis) and being asked to go on national tv to admit to your mistakes. Would your answer be: „Sure, when can you haze me?”…

Entrepreneurs and politicians are in the same bag when they screw up, everyone takes the blame in a given party or company. It’s just the way it works. As citizens and consumers we only see the end result – hey we are still driving on bad roads, the art industry is underfinanced and why is there so much administrative staff in the government? It is easy to throw the blame to those at the top. I am not saying, sure they can make all the mistakes they want and we won’t even blink. Sometimes making mistakes and trying out various solutions works much better than not doing anything. A country is not a good example for such experimentation but people are people and no government, generation, business strategy, foreign investment or funding will change that.

The lesson here is: go out of your comfort zone. In politics, business, cooking, travel and language learning/teaching. Donald Tusk has grown in my eyes since the „Brunch” program, as I can relate to his obstacles more closely, now that he has pointed them out. Before it was issues he took care (or didn’t in our view) behind closed doors and as citizens we only saw the negative impact that his party’s governing had on our country. Yesterday, he showed his face as a human being just like you and me.

Harvard Business covers the story of failure in the latest magazine, see a sample video with one of their professors here

You can also take a look at their blog, where HBR advises about „Visualizing Failure”

Many companies run a risk of becoming a „behind closed doors” operation. As consumers we only see a bad or good product or service. Take some of the Polish public companies like the Polish rail or education system. If only their management was more open for talking to us what and (if) anything is being done to improve their products and services, we would limit our complaing about their low quality.

The biggest mistake is not to admit making it, or even worse making an obvious mistake and openly denying it.

You need to make mistakes, so next time when you will have a fear of asking yourself „Should I say he have or he has”, just say it. You will be better of with someone pointing out your mistake, admitting to it and learning from it, than sitting quietly in the corner of your „quiet comfort zone”.

The inventor of the Dyson vacuum cleaner sir James Dyson said in an interview with Fast Company: „It can take a very long time to develop interesting products and get them right. But our society has an instant- gratification thing. We admire instant brilliance, effortless brilliance. I think quite the reverse. You should admire the person who perseveres and slogs through and gets there in the end.”

If I made some mistakes in this or previous articles, please let me know. I am happy to admit to them, learn from and move on.

I advise you to do the same.

Enjoy your week, go make some great mistakes, they are worth it!

Krzysztof „Chris” Dargiewicz

USEFUL VOCABULARY:

1.  the first step towards recovery – pierwszy krok do naprawy/wyzdrowienia

2.  the so-called – tak zwany

3.  a breakthrough – przełom, przełomowa

4.  to date – dotąd

5.  stiff – sztywny

6.  press conference – konferencja prasowa

7.  pre-agreed – wcześniej ustalony/umówiony

8.  predictable – przewidywalny

9.  limited – ograniczony

10. to face something/somebody – stawić czoła komuś/czemuś

11.  something coming at someone – coś czeka kogoś

12.  uneasy – trudny, niekomfortowy

13.  setting – sceneria

14.  a hard nut to crack – ciężki orzech do zgryzienia

15.  to accuse someone of something – oskarżać kogoś o coś

16.  stubborness – upartość

17.  taxation – opodatkowanie

18.  limitations – ograniczenia

19. it goes without saying – nie trzeba wspominać że, wiadomo, że

20.  to haze someone – dokuczać komuś

21.  to be in the same bag – być w tej samej sytuacji/”worku”

22.  to screw something up – zepsuć coś

23.  to take the blame for – wziąść odpowiedziałność za coś

24.  the end result – rezultat końcowy

25.  to throw the blame to someone – zrzucić na kogoś winę

26.  to not even blink – nie kiwnąć palcem

27.  to point out – wytykać, pokazywać, podkreślać

28.  to run a risk of – stać przed ryzykiem

29.  brilliance – geniusz, doskonałość

30.  to persevere – przetrwać; wytrwać

31. to slog through something – przemęczyć się przez; przejść przez

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Dear BEM Readers,

For those of you who follow sports, today marks the end of an era. The famous polish ski jumper Adam Małysz has oficially ended his career. After years of getting the top spots in competitions worldwide Adam is stepping down from the role of the leading sportsman in Poland. What can we learn from his „legacy” ? When you are passionate, no matter how hard it gets, you will succeed. Looking at the big picture of Adam’s career, he had his ups and downs. That got him to a place of tremendous pressure. The fans confronted him with very high expectations towards his performance, it was a „win and take it all” attitude. However, once Małysz did not get to the podium, some of the fans turned their backs on him. Despite difficult and uncertain seasons, when he did not get up to speed with his rivals, Adam did not take long to regain his position as a top professional in the demanding ski jumping discipline. Ok, but he is a sports man, how does it relate to me or business, you might ask?

It does not matter if you are in a different field, perseverance and stubborness in realising one’s passions are the top takeaways from Adam Małysz. Throughout the years when we could enjoy watching Adam on our TV screens he has become more than a sports professional, he is now an icon for success, achievement and personal development. There are not many individuals who faced with pressure and expectations, fullfill them. Take politicians or business professionals. The economic crisis demonstrated in the documentary movie „Inside Job” confirms that unfortunately most of the times it is the greed and self-interest that guides human actions. You must have heard terms like „CSR” – Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethics, morals, etc which are all hard to execute.. What is the secret to success then? Passion.

Adam got through the thick and thin thanks to loving what he does. If it wasn’t for the true love of the sport, he would be out of the picture sooner then you would notice it. In modern times, when a lot of people turn to coaching, professional development, self-help and other forms of „soul healing”, the answer is strickingly simple: do the work you are passionate about.

One of the business authors who embraces this fact is Seth Godin, an American marketer, blogger and a successful entrepreneur. His latest digital e-book and project „Poke the Box” is a manifesto, call for action for you to start that dream project or go after that dream job.

Watch Seth’s talk about his project here.

If you are still thinking: „No, I will never find work that I am passionate about.” Look, around poke and think about Adam Małysz.

Krzysztof „Chris” Dargiewicz

USEFUL VOCABULARY:

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