Too Many Excuses, Not Enough Action

It seems that so many people these days always want to get patted on the back for everything they do, byt like to absolve themselves from any responsibility for anything that might not go perfectly. One often hears a variety of excuses, as well as attempts to place the "blame" elsewhere. Since mistakes are always going to occur, my main complaint is not that a mistake occurs (for i certainly make plenty of those), but by individual's who are unwilling to admit errors.

There is always some excuse. How many times has someone told you that the project was late because either the individual or a family member became suddenly ill. Of course, illnesses occur, and nobody invites them and tells them when they are admitted. On the other hand, most of the time, the illness might not have been a determining factor had the project begun earlier. Too many people tend to procrastinate, or make promises, or indicate that something will be done by a certain date, and then when it is not accomplished in a timely manner, attempt to explain away the failure to perform by using excuses or blaming others.

I wish that people and companies would simply not promise to do something if they have no realistic intention or ability to get it done by that deadline. If it happens once, it is understandable. However, in my decades of management and consulting, I have observed that there is generally a pattern of non-performance. There are always some individuals, companies, and organizations that consistently accomplish things they agree to do, while others rarely get it done as promised.

Is this failure to perform merely over-enthusiasm, misjudgment of abilities, mis-analysis of what needed to be done, or a pattern of less than honest behavior? Again, I have observed that most often when there is a pattern of non-performance that there is more than a slight degree of dishonesty.

I simply wish that individuals, companies and organizations would keep their promises. If they believe they cannot get something done by a specific asked-for time, simply state that upfront, and give a realistic, achievable time when they can achieve it, while "shooting for" an earlier completion time.