There is always somebody, or something, you can blame. Use your imagination!
—Richard O'Donnell
Start pointing fingers. Blame Someone Else Day is your opportunity to avoid responsibility for whatever happens to go wrong. You can even take this a step further and make a list of things that may be amiss and a second list of who to blame for them. Your blame target does not have to be flesh and blood, inanimate objects, particularly electronic ones (‘my cell phone battery went dead’), can make for good excuses as well.
Blaming someone (or something) else is commonplace. In fact, Blame Someone Else Day was invented by Anne Moeller of Michigan, in 1982. Her alarm clock did not go off, she overslept, and was late for work. It began a day of alibis, all of which were accepted as legitimate enough reasons.
So why not find an excuse every time something goes wrong? It works doesn’t it? If this is your strategy when confronted with a problem, missed deadline, or less than stellar job performance, laying blame will work — for a while. However, people will tire of your excuses and certainly notice the pattern fairly quickly.
Human Resources expert, Susan Heathfield says, “Many people who experience failure in work or life focus frequently on why whatever happens was not their responsibility. If the results are always someone else's fault, though, the individual never takes responsibility for their own results. This interferes with their ability to improve, make changes, or have an impact.”
So on June 13th, if you’re late for work, you can blame hitting every red light on the way. But as a long term strategy, blame will get you nowhere.
