Confessing
Openly admitting to mistakes, inadequacies or failings.
In most organisational cultures confessing is rare and blaming is rife. This is because people have learned from numerous experiences that 'attack is the best form of defence' and that blaming other people, or 'circumstances beyond your control', invariably succeeds - a classic example of people learning to steer clear of trouble but in doing so impeding progress and delaying the early identification of problems.
Helping people unlearn such an ingrained behaviour clearly presents quite a challenge. The key is to reverse the normal state of affairs and find ways to 'reward' confessing so that it becomes more attractive than blaming. One way to do this is to establish the equivalent of an amnesty for anyone who confesses early to a mistake, error or other misdemeanour. Clearly there would have to be some 'crimes' beyond the terms of the amnesty, such as stealing, but it only requires a little thought to decide what should and what should not be included.
Once people know they will not be punished for making early admissions to mistakes, you must launch the process by confessing yourself! Perhaps you have been too brusque with someone, or been unavailable, or been inconsistent or done something yourself that you should have delegated? Things such as these lend themselves admirably to confessionals. Each confession should follow a fixed formula:
- A brief description of the misdemeanour.
- An apology
- A declaration of what you have done, or are going to do, to correct the situation now and in the future.
Whenever someone else makes a confession, you must make it a rule to ban any blaming or recriminations, and concentrate positively on the declaration to correct the situation by supporting or developing it into something even better.
Learning that it is OK to confess has considerable benefits both for the organisation and for the individual. Admitting to inadequacies and failings is one of the hallmarks of a mature person. Developing the habit yourself is impressive. Helping everyone to become confessors is a massive contribution to organisational effectiveness, an essential ingredient in the process of continuous improvement and a development challenge second to none.