You probably have played Monopoly or Catch Phrase. I’m sure you have played Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. Another game you probably have played or have seen played is The Blame Game.

I recently came across an old children’s book that got me thinking about this topic again. When I was a young child, I remember my mother reading me Berenstain Bears books. Maybe you remember them too. One of the books is called The Berenstain Bears and The Blame Game. It is all about how the Bear house had become one big, negative place because Brother and Sister didn’t take any responsibility for their actions. They simply argued and blamed each other. There was a lot of “he did this” or “she did that.” Each would constantly say it was the other ones fault.

One day Mama Bear had enough after the children had broken a vase with roses in it that she had just picked. She got angry, but all they did was argue and blame each other. In the midst of their fight, Papa came in to break it up saying, “there is more than enough blame to go around. So instead of playing the blame game, why don’t we just go to work and solve the problem?”

A little while later after Brother and Sister had broken a window he had just fixed, Papa lost his temper. Mama was there this time to remind him and the kids that shouting and pointing fingers would not solve the problem. They all stopped playing The Blame Game and fixed the problems.

It is always tempting to blame other people for our own flaws. It is even easier to blame others when something is actually their fault. But playing The Blame Game didn’t work for the Bear family and it will not work for you or your organization. Being a leader is about accepting blame and moving on to solve problems. PR is take responsibility no matter whose fault it is. In most games there are winners and losers. In The Blame Game there are only losers and more often than not, the entire organization loses because a few people play the game. That is unacceptable. The Blame Game is the only game where quitting is acceptable. 

To close, I will leave you with the text from the last page of the The Berenstain Bears and The Blame Game book: “Of course, there are times,” said Papa, “when somebody really is to blame for something. But most of the time, it’s important to remember there’s usually enough blame to go around.”