One of the most sure-fire ways to kill change is to blame people for things going wrong. Managers blame teams, teams blame managers, and everyone blames the consultants.

When people start blaming others, the natural response is for people to play it safe. People will pull back out of fear, even if the blame is directed elsewhere, out of fear that they might be blamed next.

Playing it safe means that they’re more likely to keep doing things the old way. Or, they’re going to do the minimum required not to be blamed themselves.

The antidote to the blame trap is to add a bit of curiosity. When things go wrong, start by asking questions to explore how they got here. With an understanding, you can begin to look for a better path forward. Better yet, people will feel safe to try new things. Which, of course, is the point of change.

You’ve got this.