Blame Boosting: Reframing Fault for Functional Forward Flow
I find it extremely easy to turn to blame when I’m frustrated. In fact, learned or otherwise, it’s almost an instinct. When something goes wrong, blame tries to force its way into the mix. But blame doesn’t do anything to perpetuate solutions. It simply distracts from progress. I recently revisit “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen, an extremely intense, but amazing piece of literature. If you don’t know the story, Brian is a kid who goes down in a plane crash over a remote and dense forest. He’s on his way to visit his father in the North of Canada when the pilot of the small plane suffers a heart attack. Brian survives the crash and is left to fend for himself, hundreds of miles of course, alone, and with only a small hatchet. The book is an incredibly well written account of his thought process through the unimaginable challenge of being isolated in that way for over two months.
One of the most poignant scenes for me was when Brian realized the futility of self-pity. After being nearly killed by a moose and torn apart by a tornado, self-pity tried to work its way into his mind. He let it distract him for a moment, and then, like a light bulb going off over his head, he understood and appreciated that self-pity is not useful. He could see clearly that it simply doesn’t work. He needed to rebuild a shelter, he needed to generate a fire, he needed to remake tools and find food, and he needed to stay alive. It didn’t take long, especially in the predicament he was in, to see very clearly that self-pity wasn’t going to help him do any of that. In fact, at the very least, it was going to slow him down.
I feel the same way about blame. We’re not stranded in the north woods with only a hatchet, but we do have significant challenges that demand solutions, occasionally with limited resources. I don’t believe that blame is going to help us attend to the wellbeing and achievement of the students we serve. I believe instead that blame can be stifling.
I do however understand that every challenge comes complete with people, and that each of those people plays a role in the perpetuation and/or the resolution of the challenges they’re connected to. I think that we can reframe blame/fault if we come at every challenge as an opportunity for learning and growth. As a principal, it’s my job to bring the best out of people. Through collaboration and the intentional focus on joyful teaching and learning I’m charged with the task of supporting all stakeholders along their individual and collective developmental journeys. When blame comes into my mind during those aforementioned moments of frustration, I find it useful to reframe the blame with functional forward flow in mind.
There’s a flow to everything. There’s a flow to the culture of a school community, there’s a flow to the development of best instructional practices, and there’s a flow to the growth of each learner. My job is to do all I can to have that flow functionally moving forward. When I set blame or fault against the process of learning and growth, my ability to facilitate forward flow is enhanced.
Sometimes I’m a manager, sometimes I’m a coach, sometimes I’m a mentor, sometimes I’m a student, and I’m always a learner. Turning to progress in teaching and learning as I work my way through the initial pull of instinctual blaming helps me to move through it ever quicker. Like Brian shaking off self-pity in favor of survival, I’m coming securely into my ability to boosting blame into fodder for understanding next steps toward a functional forward flow. This school year I intend to continue growing in that area. I would suggest that keeping that frame of mind is helpful in multiple capacities. Especially as I partner with the amazing students, teachers, and parents in my school community through our continuous work toward excellence in education.
Live. Learn. Lead.
Dream Big. Work Hard. Be Well.