The civil twilight shines through the window of an office, any office in any building anywhere in America. Early morning thoughts over coffee are about fault, whose fault? Exactly, whose fault is it? We love accountability. Someone has to blame for plants dying, work process errors, and coffee stains on the counter. Do you see blame shifted to scapegoats out of favoritism at work? What about the surgeon who relies on the technician to report a correct sponge count? When the patient becomes deathly ill from an unaccounted sponge left behind, it is the surgeon who is held responsible. Fair? Yes, but now the accountability and responsibility have a variety of actions that include better or more training, improved teamwork, everyone on the surgical team working together rather than shifting the blame down to the nursing staff and then technicians. Faux responses of accountability with statements like "I'm sorry, I should have been more clear" do nothing better than more harm. It is really a condition of the heart that demonstrates accountability and answers the question "Whose fault is it?" well.
