“’I know there’s been a lot of talk about what went wrong last week. I know everyone’s been at least somewhat focused on who’s to blame. I want you to know that I’ve searched long and hard and finally discovered who’s responsible.’ I paused. ‘I am.’ One could see varying looks of surprise and relief around the table. I continued, ‘I’m the chairman and it’s my fault when things go wrong. Now, having gotten that out of the way, let’s try to figure out how to fix this and learn from what happened, so we don’t repeat it.’
It’s tempting to criticize others, especially when someone else actually did do something wrong. It’s also unproductive and unkind. If someone repeatedly makes mistakes, he or she is in the wrong job. But firing someone won’t solve an immediate problem – and sometimes making mistakes is a necessary adjunct to trying new things: without the freedom to fail, many people won’t take an appropriate risk.”
—Strauss Zelnick.
