Blame Culture Is Toxic“责备文化”贻害无穷

迈克尔·蒂姆斯/文　肖爽/译

Picture this： Your team is racing against time1 and working weekends to submit a new client proposal. You finally manage to put all the documents together， and just in the nick of time， you press “send.” You take a deep breath and thank the team for their hard work. The proposal looks great and you’re confident that you’ll probably win it.

设想一下：你的团队牺牲了周末时间，只为争分夺秒完成一份新的客户提案。终于，你整理好所有文件，在最后一刻按下“发送”键。你深吸了一口气，感谢大家的辛勤付出。提案看起来很不错，你自信有把握赢得客户。

A week later， you get an email from the client： “We really liked your bid. We would’ve love to go ahead with your company， but we found a mismatch in your numbers and the supporting documents. We’re pressed for time， so we’ve decided to move forward with someone else. I’m sure we’ll be able to work together in the future.”

一周过后，你收到了客户的邮件：“我们非常喜欢这个提案，本打算与贵公司合作，但后来发现贵公司的数据与证明文件有一处不符。由于时间紧迫，就选择了其他公司。我相信今后我们还有机会合作。”

You’re upset， frustrated， and angry. You call your team in， give them an earful2 about not checking the package correctly， and storm out of the room.

你心烦意乱、沮丧愤怒，召集团队成员，训斥他们没有好好检查项目文件，然后愤然离席。

What kind of an impression did you leave？ Your team probably thinks you’re thankless and unkind. They put a lot of work into that proposal and may even feel like they hate you in the moment. Your relationship may be irreversibly damaged.

你给人留下了怎样的印象？大家可能觉得你不知感恩、不近人情。大伙儿也为这份提案付出了很多心血，在那一刻，甚至可能对你心生怨恨。你们的关系或许就此出现裂痕，无法挽回。

No matter how nice you think you are， every unkind word or angry tone that escapes your lips undoes five times the amount of good your kind words and actions may have done.

无论你认为自己多么和善，你当时脱口而出的一句恶语、发泄出的一分怒气会抵消你以往五倍的善言善行。

There are two big challenges to overcoming blame：

要克服责人之心，我们面临着两大挑战：

Humans are wired to blame.

责备乃人之天性。

We are all naturally wired to blame other people or circumstances when things go wrong. These propensities are partially psychological， driven by something called the fundamental attribution bias3. We tend to believe that what people do is a reflection of who they are， rather than considering there may be other factors （social or environmental） influencing their behavior.

一旦事情出错，我们自然而然地怪罪于他人或者环境。在一定程度上，这种倾向是由一种叫做“基本归因偏差”的心理因素所造成。我們通常认为一个人的所作所为反映了其本性，却忽视了影响人之行为的其他因素（社会因素或环境因素）。

This is why when major workplace disasters are reported in the news， “human error” is often the first， and sometimes only， explanation provided， ignoring the systemic factors that led to the failure. It also feels the most satisfying. If someone else is to blame for our problems， then they need to change—not us.

这就是为什么每次新闻报道重大工作事故时，“人为错误”往往是第一解释，有时甚至是唯一解释，完全忽略了导致事故的系统性因素。如此说法，往往最令人满意。倘若问题是他人造成的，那么他人需要改变，而非我们。

There is also a biological explanation for our inclination to blame. Recent brain imaging research out of Duke University shows that positive events are processed by the prefrontal cortex， which takes a while and tends to conclude that good things happen by fluke. Negative events， on the other hand， are processed by the amygdala， which controls our fight-or-flight response4. The amygdala usually concludes that bad things happen on purpose， and it comes to this conclusion lightning fast. So fast， in fact， that we don’t even notice we’re making an assumption; we just know that the person closest to the problem must have done it on purpose！

这种责备倾向在生物学上也找得到依据。杜克大学最近的大脑成像研究表明，前额叶皮层负责应对积极事件，反应一段时间后，倾向于判定好事都是出于侥幸。而控制战斗或逃跑反应的杏仁核则负责应对负面事件，通常立马得出结论，判定坏事是故意为之。事实上，这结论下得如此之快，我们甚至都意识不到自己只是在做假设，便一口咬定出事的人是故意为之！

We blame more than we think.

我们比自认为的更爱责备。

This leads to the second problem with blame—we don’t notice how often we do it. Even the best executives I work with confess that they initially thought my “don’t blame” message was important for their team members to hear， but not them. However， once they began tracking how often they blame other people or circumstances for problems， they were shocked at how frequently they caught themselves in the act.

这就引出了责备的第二个问题：我们意识不到自己多么受怨天尤人。即使是我合作过的最优秀的高管也承认，他们最初认为我提出的“不要责备”是讲给其团队成员听的，而非他们自己。可是，一旦他们开始记录自己多少次将问题怪罪于他人或者环境，就会对自己屡屡做出这种行为感到震惊。

This behavior unfortunately leads their teams down a negative spiral. Our brains interpret blame the same way they interpret a physical attack. When we’re blamed， our prefrontal cortices effectively shut down and direct all our energy to defending ourselves， which， ironically， sabotages our ability to solve the problem for which we are being blamed.

不幸的是，這样下去会使整个团队陷入恶性循环。我们的大脑应对责备就跟应对身体受到攻击一样。受到责备时，前额叶皮层会及时关闭，将所有精力投入自卫，讽刺的是，这又恰恰削弱了我们解决受指责之问题的能力。

Blame also kills healthy， accountable behaviors. Nobody will take accountability for5 problems if they think they’ll be punished for doing so. Furthermore， learning and problem solving go out the window6 in workplaces that tolerate blame. Instead of learning from mistakes， blamed employees tend to hide their mistakes.

责备也会扼杀健康、负责任的行为。早知道要受到惩罚，就没人会愿意主动担责。此外，在一个动不动就兴师问罪的工作环境里，人也会对学习懈怠起来，不去积极解决问题。受责骂的员工往往不会吸取教训，反而会掩盖错误。

So what can we do？

那么，我们能做些什么？

Eliminate blame culture on your team.

肃清团队中的“责备文化”

Here are two simple changes you can adopt to promote a blame-free culture on your team， especially as a manager.

可以采取以下兩种简单的方法在团队中推广“无责备文化”，此法尤其适用于管理者。

Switch your mindset to “We’re all still learning，” and share your mistakes.

转变心态为“我们都还在学习”，坦言自己犯过错误。

We all make mistakes from time to time. It’s what makes us human. No good comes from blaming and shaming each other for our imperfect nature. You benefited from learning from your mistakes， so allow others to do the same. Use problems and mistakes as teaching moments， not shaming moments. If you’re a manager， discuss your own mistakes and the lessons learned from them. Doing so creates a psychological safe space that will encourage others to follow suit. When a problem surfaces， teammates will be more likely to acknowledge their part in creating them and stop passing the buck7.

人人都有犯错的时候，这是人之为人的特质。为了不完美的人性而相互指责和羞辱，实在是于事无补。你能从自己的错误中有所收获，那么也应该允许其他人这样做。以问题和错误为契机进行学习，而非羞辱。如果你是管理者，不妨分享一下自己犯过的错误以及从中吸取的教训。这样做可以构建一个心理安全空间，鼓励他人效仿。一旦出现问题，队友会更愿意主动担当，不再推卸责任。

For example， you could conduct regular lessons learned debriefs8 at the end of a project with your team to understand what went wrong， what it is attributed to， and how you will use that information to move forward with a stronger strategy. This is how you teach others to approach problems from a place of kindness and compassion. Remember that just one negative outburst can set you five steps back.

例如，你可以在项目结束后与团队进行定期的“经验教训”汇报，分析问题出在哪儿，原因是什么，以及如何借用这些前车之鉴来推行更有效的策略。通过这种方式，你才能教人本着善良和同情心来面对问题。记住，仅仅是一次负面情绪的爆发就会让你前功尽弃。

Focus on what you can change.

专注于你能改变的事。

You can’t change other people. In fact， attempting to do so will only encourage them to resist your efforts. When we blame others for our problems， it kills accountability in ourselves by making us passive victims， and it kills accountability in others by encouraging them to pass the buck.

你无法改变他人。实际上，试图这样做只会增加对方的抵触。当我们委罪于人，一方面会因塑造自己为被动的受害者而使自己的责任心消减，另一方面会因促使他人推卸责任而使他人的责任心也消减。

Before passing on the blame， consider a system’s approach to your problem—that means， defining the problem taking into consideration the entire problem as a whole， not in parts. Weak leaders might ask “Who’s at fault？” but strong leaders， using a systems approach， would ask， “Where did the process break down？” The solutions to your organization’s problems are more likely to be found by examining what’s wrong with your systems than by examining what’s wrong with your employees.

在推卸责任之前，请试着用系统的眼光看待问题，也就是说，界定问题时要考虑全局，而非局部。愚拙的领导可能会问：“是谁的错？”而高明的領导纵观全局，可能会问：“是哪个环节掉了链子？”要解决你所在机构的难题，答案往往在制度的失灵之处，而非员工的失误之处。

We may not cause all our own problems， but our past actions or inactions often contribute to the problems of our future， the ones that we are most likely to blame on others. Anytime you encounter a problem—even one you are certain was caused by someone else—ask yourself question： “How may I have contributed to this problem？ How can I approach this situation， this person， and myself， with a generous mindset？” Asking these questions will give you ideas around how to prevent this problem from reoccurring， and how to discuss it in a way that promotes trust as opposed to fear or contempt.

我们的问题或许并非都是自己一手造成，但过去的作为或者不作为往往埋下了未来的祸根，到时候最有可能怪罪其他人。每当你遇到问题，就算你确信这问题是别人造成的，也要扪心自问：“出了这个问题，我负有什么样的责任？我怎样才能以宽容之心来面对这种情况、这个人和我自己？”如此自省会给你启示：怎样避免问题再次发生，怎样在讨论问题的时候构建互信，而非引发恐惧或者招致轻蔑。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者；单位：香港中文大学）

1 race against time与时间赛跑；争分夺秒。  2 give sb an earful训斥。

3 the fundamental attribution bias基本归因偏差，是指人们倾向于把他人所有的行为都归因于人格特质而忽略了环境因素。

4 fight-or-flight response战斗或逃跑反应，又称“战跑反应”，指对威胁的感知引发一连串的生理变化，使身体处于高度戒备状态，要么“战斗”，要么“逃跑”。

5 take accountability for对……负责。  6 go out （of） the window完全消失，不再存在。

7 pass the buck 推卸责任；踢皮球。  8 debrief详细询问，盘问（执行任务的情况）。