Has Blame robbed us of space bases?
From: For all Mankind. Love the show
So before I get into it, some context. We had some outages at work, and I’m a big advocate for blameless culture. Relaxing after work this evening, I saw this about the NSW LNPs election bungle. Immediately, all I could think was that this definitely isn’t an example of blameless culture. So then I spent some rabbit hole time thinking about what else could have changed…
In the wise words of the Watcher: ‘where a single choice can branch out into infinite realities, creating alternate worlds from the ones you know. I am the Watcher. I am your guide through these vast new realities. Follow me and ponder the question… “What if?”’
38 years ago, the Challenger space shuttle shocked the world when it was annihilated by a fuel leak. This resulted in all momentum in the Space Race being lost, NASA halted launches for over 2 years. Bush’s Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) died a quiet death, never receiving funding.
SEI was supposed to see a return to the moon for a permanent base and missions to Mars.
I would like to think that by now, rather than waiting for Elon to launch a Tesla at Mars, we’d already be there, with the public sector leading the way, rather than the corporate phallic vehicles we’ve seen.
Censored for our more sensitive viewers /s
Nearly 3 months later, we find ourselves in the north of the Ukrainian SSR. Chernobyl was undergoing a test of its turbine to provide power for emergency cooling while it was spinning down, which resulted in a 30 km exclusion zone and multiple shields being built over the complex to prevent further contamination of the countryside.
In a blameless culture, would the engineers on shift have requested a pause of the test because of the delays, causing the team trained for the test to reach the end of the shift and head home?
Would the 25-year-old senior engineer, who’d only been working independently for 3 months prior, raise concerns about his suitability?
Would those developing the training engineers received be more vocal about adding information about Xenon poisoning to the procedures so Engineers have a better understanding of what’s happening when the power dips low?
Last thought experiment. Toyota’s commitment to safety and reliability spawned the Hilux, that ran after Top Gear famously blew up a building under it, and the iconic Landcruiser, which’s been used for over 70 years to explore the wilderness.
This was all made possible by the adoption of the Andon Cord. This involves anyone on the production line being empowered to call a stop when they find a problem. Then everyone swarms to fix the issue.
Now imagine how much worse the quality of Toyota products would have been if honesty and trust weren’t there. If they were focused on cost and speed instead?
While eliminating blame does avoid shame & fear getting in the way of a progress, keep in mind that blameless doesn’t mean without consequence.
Focus on the root cause. Are there gaps in training, unclear expectations, or flaws in the process that are contributing to their mistakes?
Once they’re being provided support, it’s essential that regular, constructive feedback be provided. In a blameless culture, feedback is delivered in a way that encourages learning and improvement rather than punishment. If someone is consistently causing issues, they should receive guidance, mentorship, or additional training to help them improve.
Clear expectations should be set, and if an individual continues to cause issues despite support and guidance, the team may need to have a direct conversation about their fit for the role. This should be done with empathy and a focus on what’s best for both the individual and the team. I love Kim Scott’s Radical Candor for this.
If the consistent issues persist and impact the team’s performance or morale, it may be necessary to involve leadership to make a decision about the individual’s role. This should be done thoughtfully, ensuring that all efforts to support the individual have been exhausted first.
A blameless culture doesn’t remove responsibility but rather encourages a balanced approach. It recognizes that people make mistakes, and the focus is on learning and improvement. However, it also understands that consistent performance issues need to be addressed to maintain team health and productivity.
As we reflect on these pivotal moments in history, it’s intriguing to consider how different the world might look if a blameless culture had been more widely adopted. What if the engineers at NASA had felt empowered to raise their concerns about the Challenger’s O-rings without fear of retribution? What if the Chernobyl team had paused the test, confident that seeking clarity wouldn’t be seen as a weakness? What if industries everywhere prioritized learning and improvement over blame?
In these alternate realities, perhaps we would be living in a world where space bases are a reality, where energy generation is safer, and where innovation thrives because mistakes are met with curiosity rather than condemnation. The “what ifs” are endless, but they serve as a powerful reminder that the culture we cultivate today shapes the future we build tomorrow.
Lead with kindness, embrace the lessons learned from the past, and always ponder the question… What if?