They are instinctive human foibles—trying to avoid blame by pointing the finger at others and grabbing credit that one’s not really due. They can turn a workplace into a smoldering battlefield and derail your career, if you let them, either because you’ve become the victim of these practices or you’ve allowed yourself to fall into them. The fact is that many workplaces foster a “blame or be blamed†culture; maybe the problem is a constantly blaming boss, or an employee who is always stealing credit. Individuals are scapegoated, teams fall apart, projects get derailed, and employees become disengaged because fear and resentment have taken root.
From his years of experience consulting to leading companies, psychologist Ben Dattner has decoded the hidden rules of credit and blame that we all need to know in order to navigate our way around the pitfalls. Telling a host of true stories from individuals and teams he has worked with, he illuminates the psychology behind this bad behavior—identifying the eleven personality types who are especially prone to credit and blame problems—and tells us how to master the vital skills of defusing the blame game that will boost our careers.