Fix The Problem Not the Blame
the tune? home on the range

From the Boston Globe 9/10/05 ... "There is nothing more powerful than the urge to blame."
-- Eric Dezenhall, a crisis management consultant (regarding Katrina and George Bush)
click here for the musical attempt by Josephine and me!

Oh it's not a shame
To fix the problem not the blame
I cherish this advice from MJ
If people only knew
What blaming can do
We'd fix many more problems each day

Don't aim for the blame
Everybody makes a mistake
Grady little made three
For the whole world to see
Hope he apologizes before it's time for his wake

Oh we all make mistakes and sometimes get some breaks
It is part of the rhythm of life
Mistakes can be small or super-size
But you gotta apologize
I do so twice a day to my wife


Even on 90th Street
Where no one packs heat
Even some of us over 40 make mistakes
Carlos did leave his post
Now his job is toast
The whole incident gives me the shakes.

from the web page of http://website.lineone.net/~andrewhdknock/StoriesA-H.htm ... click here

Blame culture

In Philip Kaufman's 1993 movie Rising Sun, a stripped-down version of Michael Crichton's detailed and controversial novel, a scene between Web Smith (Wesley Snipes), a young black policeman in Los Angeles, and John Connor (Sean Connery), an older and world-weary ex-cop, vastly experienced in Japanese culture, exposes our recurring obsession with blaming someone (else):

SMITH: The chief says we f--- up. He's blaming us.
CONNOR: The Japanese have a saying, "Fix the problem, not the blame. Find out what's f---- up and fix it." Nobody gets blamed. We're always after who f---- up. Their way is better.