Question

"QUESTION: Give an example of a time when you were a part of an organizational culture that used mistakes/problems to blame those involved as well as one that used such issues as opportunities. What message does it send when the culture encourages those involved to view mistakes/problems as opportunities for improvement rather than as reasons to blame or punish?"

Please reply/ answer/ comment the 2 posts below. Thanks

Post #1 GS

"Finding the root of a problem should be the priority in any situation. I was working for a team in my previous job that a lot of blame was always done. The leadership team would point fingers at different people, and wouldn’t address the issue on hand. Of course with this approach, many situations would go unsolved and it would occur over and over again. One of the biggest issues of the team was confrontation when an issue arose. We experienced a lot of trouble because of this.

Currently, at my new job, I work with a smaller team. When a problem arises, we share it among each other and figure out how to solve it. Recently a customer orders a huge amount of product, and it needed to be at their site in 3 days. The person who is in charge of manufacturing didn’t get the product shipped in time. During the time of the problem, we tried to figure out why the product wasn’t shipped, and how we could have helped the person who is in charge of manufacturing, get any other order out in time for any future clients.

The message that is sent when the organization encourages viewing mistakes as opportunities are refreshing for any team member of that organization. We will all make mistakes, and when done, we end up blaming ourselves already for that mistake. To get blamed from others doesn’t help the situation to progress and doesn’t help with finding a resolution for that mistake to not happen again."

Post #2 AA

"My previous work at a local restaurant exposed me to an organizational culture where any mistakes or problems made by an employee was always treated as a big problem that warranted a suspension or even salary deduction. The given culture was toxic as the employees were always worried whenever they committed any mistake or problem thus leading to high turnover of the employees. The culture made me quit the job since I could not withstand the stress and worries that were associated with committing even a slight mistake during the undertaking of various daily duties and responsibilities.

On the other hand, my present job as an organization; culture where the uses mistakes or been problems committed by the staff as opportunities. This has been achieved through the strong commitment to innovation by the management thus encouraging the employees to view any given challenge or mistake committed as an avenue for improvement or even an opportunity to solve the problem by being innovative and creative. The given culture has proved to be helpful as it sends a positive message of appreciating that sometimes employees might commit mistakes and what matters is how they are solved by embracing them as opportunities for another venture that can be a game changer in the given industry. Additionally, the viewing of mistakes as opportunities for improvement rather punishment sends a message of valuing the strengths and weaknesses of each employee helps in boosting the morale of the employees as they feel not discriminated for any slight mistake committed."

Answer 1

Post 1- as discussed here pointing figures means getting the opportunity to blame others but no one thought that the fingers could be pointed to them in future and ultimately there will be an environment of embarrassment and stress at the workplace. Such actions never lead to organizational success. The environment where all works as a team and contribute together while solving problems lead to organizational as well as individual success. In such environment employees feel satisfied and enjoy doing their work, they treat every problem coming over as an opportunity to increase their decision making power in stressful situations.

Post 2-as discussed in the first paragraph such method of terminating employment always lead to high turnover rate and low morale of employees. The organization which sees every mistake as an opportunity to learn from would always result in innovative decisions being taken. Some organizations look for mistakes as a challenge from with team members could learn from the experience of handling such situation as a collaborative effort. Such culture of continuous learning is essential in today’s competitive environment.