Over the past 50 years I’ve watched with interest as people blamed other people for maladies ranging from running out of peanut butter in the home cupboard to nuclear proliferation of rogue nations. Most fascinating to me about these observations is that blame never solves the underlying problem. So over the past five years I launched a concerted effort to examine blame from a variety of perspectives. I chronicled its costs to individuals, families, organizations, and society at large. I researched blame’s cultural origins, its psychological underpinnings, and its situational influences. I analyzed how in a systemic universe blame is simply irrational. But most importantly I came to understand how by reducing blame we can displace its costs with positive outcomes for ourselves, our families, our workplaces, and our social institutions.
A few weeks ago I completed the draft manuscript of a book summarizing these findings and passed copies to a few select individuals for intense critical review. Consequently, the next few months will be consumed with editing, indexing, contracting for publication, and arranging distribution. But with any luck, Who’s to Blame? - the book, will be available to the public around the time the leaves drop from the trees and frost coats the pumpkins here in Wisconsin. At that time I hope to use this blog as a forum where readers can comment on contemporary issues related to blame, share personal experiences, and find ideas on how to reduce blame’s impact in their own lives.
In the meantime, the world of blame continues and perhaps we can begin to chip away at it here. (I just finished listening to a presidential press conference discussing the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and I can assure you blame is alive and well!) So I hope you will choose to be a regular visitor at this site, and to contribute your comments and ideas. If we all begin to unmask blame for the unproductive and destructive habit it truly is, then I have high hopes that, collectively, we can change the world for the better.
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