“Don’t find fault, find a remedy”

Henry Ford

Twenty-plus years ago, I read a Japanese management axiom that was a compelling piece of wisdom and is one that I have relied on for most of my professional career and personal life. 

“Devote your energy into understanding and fixing the problem, not who is at fault.” 

Teams that work with this intent are tightly aligned and focused on the things that matter. Teams led in a “fault first” environment are only worried about making sure that the finger doesn’t point at them—what a waste of time and energy…