Stylized line drawing of mark playing the flute

Stop blaming and fix the thing

People get fixated on who is to blame when something is broken, especially in software development.

Nobody wants to be blamed. We want to look smart. We want to pretend that we never make mistakes.

I used to work with a guy who said that assignment of blame was the most important part of solving a problem. I think that’s insane. Time spent on blame is time you could’ve been working on fixing things!

I try to approach every problem assuming that I have done something completely stupid and that it’s all my fault. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t.

That’s not really the point. The point is to remove your ego from the equation.

I hate trying to problem-solve with someone who spends the whole time trying to prove that something isn’t their fault.

I’ll have more respect for someone who admits their mistakes freely and then takes steps to avoid them. But, in the end, I don’t really care who’s at fault.

I want to solve the problem.

Something is broken. Just buckle down and fix the damn thing.