Eastern Way: Fundamental #19 – Practice Blameless Problem Solving

This fundamental was written by Samantha David. Samantha started with Eastern Funding over three years ago as an administrative assistant and has been promoted twice in the last two years to documentation specialist and now funding officer.

Practice Blameless Problem Solving. Fix Mistakes by Focusing on Solutions. Then identify lessons learned and use those lessons to improve our processes so we don’t make the same mistake again. Get smarter with every mistake.

When we come across a problem, we should always ask ourselves “why did this happen,” and “what is a simple and effective solution?” But unfortunately for some of us, the first thing we want to do is find someone to blame. Why? Because it is natural for us to never want to be wrong.

I personally hate to be wrong, but when I am, I use blameless problem solving. It is a huge waste of time to play the blame game – you probably spend more time trying to figure out who to blame than actually solving the problem.

We all make mistakes, but it doesn’t help you or your co-workers to make a situation worse by trying to blame someone else. Although everyone should be accountable for their actions, no one is perfect.

In order to be successful at blameless problem solving, you have to always be positive and utilize a few of our fundamentals:

– #5 Be a Detective: Figure out what the problem is and why it occurred

– #10 Be Proactive: Take initiative to resolve the problem

– #17 Be a Team Player: Work together if necessary to figure out a solution

– #4 Just Do it: Don’t waste time complaining or trying to figure out who messed up…just fix it!

These are just a few fundamentals that can be utilized while practicing blameless problem solving. The next time something goes wrong, give blameless problem solving a try. Not only at work, but even in your daily life. I promise it will make things a lot easier for you and those you interact with on a day to day basis.