Who is to Blame?

By Doug Franklin April 18, 2011

When we face problems in our ministries our natural tendency is to find out who is to blame. Not to call out or humiliate but to uncover the source of the problem. Does it ever help to discover who is to blame? I think it can sometimes, but most often it doesn’t really help. I think blame for a problem can mean two things. One, someone took a risk and worked hard but it didn’t pay off or two, someone didn’t care and was lazy and it didn’t work out. The first person needs a pat on the back and verbal encouragement, the second needs to be shown the door. As leaders we need to determine which one is the case and take action. By treating the situation the same we communicate that risk taking doesn’t matter and that not caring doesn’t matter either. Let’s turn the blame game into the praise game and make sure that our risk takers get credit for jumping out on a limb.