It’s not my fault.

December 10, 2013

As a business owner – more importantly, as an interior design professional who manages dozens of people and hundreds of products – how many times have these words left your mouth? Or entered your head?

I can tell you that I spent many years using these very words as my mantra.

It’s not my fault. It’s the client’s fault – she doesn’t understand how complex this work is and her demands are unreasonable.

It’s not my fault. It’s the supplier’s fault. They didn’t order exactly what I needed.  If they had questions they should have asked me.

It’s not my fault. It’s the trade’s fault.  He didn’t show up when he was supposed to or didn’t do what I very clearly asked him to do. What the heck is wrong with this guy?

The Blame Game. This attitude (my attitude!) was the fundamental problem in my business model. As long as I continued to pass blame and absolve myself of responsibility, I would never be able to build a mature business – one that consistently satisfied it’s client base.

Finally, with the help of a professional business coach, I was able to see that every problem in my business was the direct result of my own lack of leadership and management systems.  And while that may sound like dire news, the fact of the matter is, it’s liberating.

By owning a problem, you can turn all your attention to solving it.

Today, I like to think I spend almost zero time blaming the other guy (of course, I’m not perfect) and nearly 100% of my time at discovering how I might permanently avoid a similar problem in the future. The blame game is pointless.

Own it. Fix it. Love your business again.