Here's something I wrote once for our company newsletter.

Let’s talk a bit about teamwork and what it means to function as a team. Here’s a question to think about: When something goes wrong here at work, what is the first thing to go through your mind? If your answer is “Who did it?” or “Who messed up?” I am pleased to tell you that we have an ongoing opportunity to improve our team skills! WhooHoo!

Think about a sports team. When the big game is lost or something doesn’t go as hoped and the losing team is reviewing game tapes, what are they looking for? Are they looking to place blame or point fingers at individuals? Not if they are going to be a successful team, they aren’t! Instead, they are looking for lapses in their processes, lapses in their game plan, lapses in their teamwork, lapses in communication – exceptions – things that didn’t go according to plan.

Furthermore, even winning teams are always reviewing tapes, looking at processes, looking at plays, looking for ways of improvement. But never, ever pointing fingers at individuals. Losing teams place blame and look for scapegoats. Winning teams seek and find solutions.

We need to be the same way. Live as a team, work as a team, win as a team, be willing to lose as a team. Review processes, review our game plan, COMMUNICATE, constantly search for opportunities for improvement. Will there be cases when an individual’s error leads to failure or a problem? Absolutely! But, instead of looking to place blame on that person, the answer is in looking for what lapse in our processes causes the problem. Did we not have proper training? Did we not have proper practice? Did we not have proper guidance? Was there something missing in our defined processes? Was there a lack of communication?

Yes, individuals make mistakes but teams don’t function as individuals. They function through the processes – the gameplays, if you will -- of teamwork. When something goes awry, the problem rests with one or more of the processes, not with the individuals.

Placing blame amounts to making someone feel bad about his or herself. That doesn’t help morale or spirit. Some folks may say that, in many cases, it is done for the purpose of making the one pointing their finger feel better about themselves. How ridiculous is that concept! With a successful team, everyone must feel good about themselves and the team at all times. The fault lies in processes, not people. If you’re feeling needy, find your esteem by helping improve processes, not be tearing others down! Processes can be changed and improved -- easily, to the benefit of the team, with cool heads, low blood pressure, and no hurt feelings. Changing processes is much better than trying to change individual behavior.