It all begins with personal responsibility

An auto trip across the country reinforced three valuable lessons about the lack of personal responsibility in the modern workplace.

The national hotel chain has an excellent Web site that allowed me to make my reservation for a room with a king-size bed and a sleeper couch for three adults well in advance. When I arrived at the hotel I was told only a king-size room was available. When I showed my confirmation for a specific room I was told “It’s the computer’s fault.” The shift manager said, “We didn’t have the room you ordered so the computer kicked you down to a king-size.”

I was frustrated, but kept my cool as I explained that I thought a human being had programmed the computer to make that happen, and the human being should make sure the computer recognizes that three adults can’t sleep in a king-size bed.

The manager looked at me as if I had a third eye in the middle of my forehead. She obviously dismissed my contention as heresy. In today’s service workplace people blame “the computer” all the time. They act as if some uncontrollable, electronic demon makes bad things happen. They are only certain it is not their fault; it’s the computer’s fault.

As I walked away it was clear I failed to make my gentle point that real people need to reprogram the computer so customers are better served. I got the impression that manager was never going to report the mistake because she was convinced it really was the computer’s fault. We are allowing technology to demean us as workers and to demean our customers because we fail to take personal responsibility.

A few nights later my wife encountered a waitress who brought her french fries rather than the fruit she requested. When we apprised the waitress of the mistake she scurried back to the kitchen. She returned beaming with pride. “Well, it wasn’t my fault because I filled out the ticket correctly!” she reported.

What? The customer was ill-served, but all she could focus on was her own culpability. She apparently felt no company pride or concern. She was covering her own posterior and that was all that mattered. My wife really didn’t care whose fault it was. She wanted fruit, not fries.

We all become a little smaller and a little less fulfilled when we care only for our specific task. When we don’t focus on the overall outcome and the total quality of the product our workplaces become more hostile, selfish and even mean. Finger-pointing and blame make us less than whole.

Then there is the national fast food chain that has made a big advertising deal of a new process it uses for its food. My third recent encounter with the chain in different parts of the country has convinced me the chain’s employees think the new process is a failure. The employees gently try to guide me away from it. They never say anything that could be viewed as insubordinate, but the impression they leave is clear.

It is just as clear the employees have absolutely no confidence that their point of view will be listened to at headquarters, so they fight their silent battle of subterfuge.

That chain would be much better off – and their employees much more fulfilled – if there was an environment that allowed them to confidently report to superiors that the bold new innovation is a failure.

All of our workplaces would improve if we stopped blaming computers, if we accepted personal responsibility for errors our organization commits, and if employees felt enough ownership to report the truth to the bosses.

Tip for your search: Put a little sign near your workstation that reads, “I can fix every problem.” Make that your default position. Believe you can and you’ll solve more problems than you did yesterday. Then keep careful track of the problems you couldn’t solve. Talk to your supervisor about those and decide if a new system, more training or more autonomy would have helped.

Resource for your search: “Get Them on Your Side,” by Samuel B. Bacharach (Platinum Press, 2005)