Cultures of Wellbeing: Why We Need to Break Cycles of Blame

May 25

These days, it feels like every news alert is a claim that someone or something is to blame. While we know that finger-pointing and scapegoating are not solutions for fixing problems, it is still in our human nature to revert to blame-based thinking when times are volatile and uncertain.

This is also true in our workplaces. Have you ever found yourself pointing fingers at another department or colleague when something goes wrong? Have you heard rumors that you or your team is to blame for shortcomings? I am sure you have, because no workplace is free from these tensions.

Even in nonprofit organizations, where people are typically seen as caring and compassionate, toxic behaviors of blaming and scapegoating can easily fester. When we become deeply passionate about our work and we’re faced with high demands, mounting pressure, and needs to perform well in an uncertain landscape, people will naturally start to point fingers when things slip through the cracks. But in times like these, our nonprofit workplaces need not mirror the divisiveness we see in the world. What we need is to come together and learn how to shift from blame to shared accountability.

What if, instead of isolating problems to individuals or departments, we viewed our organizations as ecosystems: seeing how our roles connect, where support is needed, and how expectations could be better managed?

This fourth edition of Cultures of Wellbeing explores how shifting from a culture of blame to one of shared accountability is essential for workplace wellbeing. Especially in the face of polarization.

What Is Workplace Wellbeing?

At its core, wellbeing is a combination of factors that impact our ability to live healthy and fulfilling lives. It encompasses every facet of our lives, from our physical health to our finances, and our social connections. Work is no exception. Everything from workplace culture to daily tasks directly impacts our wellbeing. In nonprofits, where teams are often stretched thin by funding limitations and high expectations, the impact can be even greater.

Workplace wellbeing has become a critical focus for organizations looking to create a supportive and productive environment for their employees. These initiatives are meant to help professionals feel valued, supported, and equipped to sustain their passion for their work. For nonprofit leaders, this means creating environments where people can thrive in their roles and contribute to an organization's mission without sacrificing their mental and emotional health.

Why Do We Blame?

An article from Psychology Today explains that blaming is often a defense mechanism used to avoid uncomfortable emotions like guilt, anxiety, or shame. In the workplace, blame and scapegoating can become ways to protect oneself or one’s team, dodge accountability, or deflect consequences.

Blame tends to increase when workplace dynamics are tense or challenging. For example, in cultures marked by overwork, burnout, or high stress, people may be more likely to point fingers when something goes wrong. During especially turbulent times, blame can even become a coping strategy, giving people a false sense of control over uncertainty—both within and outside their organizations. In the nonprofit sector, where emotional investment is high, blame can hit especially hard. Nonprofit folks are dedicated to the work because they care. And when that care is met with blame instead of support, it can lead to disconnection and division.

Blame-based workplace cultures don't lead to sustainable solutions. When we blame one person or group for a problem that has broader or systemic roots, we miss opportunities for real learning and growth. This is how we often find ourselves blaming:

Blaming a staff member for poor program outcomes without addressing unrealistic workloads, unclear expectations, or lack of support.
Pointing fingers at a single department when problems arise rather than examining cross-team dynamics.
Punishing individuals for disengagement without evaluating harmful leadership practices or toxic cultural norms.
Scapegoating leadership for bad decision-making without fully understanding all of the circumstances at play.

Blame may offer short-term relief or a feeling of control, but it erodes trust, damages relationships, and often prevents us from addressing the root causes of workplace challenges.

Why Do We Need to Shift to Shared Accountability?

Shared accountability starts with recognizing that solving complex problems isn’t easy work! Creating a culture of shared accountability gives us permission to know that we're not always going to get it right and that blaming one another slows down our ability to teach, learn, and grow together. Shared accountability asks us to acknowledge the interconnectedness of our roles, stay curious in the face of conflict, and prioritize collective learning over individual fault. It invites us to move from defensiveness to dialogue, from finger-pointing to problem-solving, and from blaming to giving grace. Importantly, giving others (or ourselves) grace doesn’t negate the work that is required to build trust and co-create healthier ways of being in community.

Moving from blame to shared accountability allows teams to:

Prioritize psychological safety: When people know they won’t be blamed for every misstep, they feel safer speaking up, sharing ideas, and admitting when they need help. Additionally, breaking blame cycles allows teams to build trust with one another and work more collaboratively, rather than constantly looking for reasons to blame colleagues.
Promote continuous learning: Mistakes, gaps, misunderstandings, and shortcomings are normal. Treat these moments as learning lessons and opportunities for improvement, rather than triggers for punishment and conflict.
Address root causes: Shifting the lens from "Who messed up?" to "What needs to change structurally so that we minimize the messes?" leads to more effective problem-solving (see tip below for hosting a “Mistake Party”). This approach helps people see that rarely is any one person or group to blame for organizational issues, and that issues may lie in outdated systems or processes.
Strengthen collaboration: Shared ownership encourages mutual accountability and supports team cohesion, helping people recognize that closing the gaps and righting the wrongs is a collective effort.

What Our Community Says

Nonprofit leaders have expressed the following aspirations in their journeys to minimize blame within their organizations:

“Our team wants to problem-solve effectively. I agree that we shouldn’t be blaming others, but I do believe we can blame policies or decisions that have made working together really difficult.”
“Sometimes I see that my colleagues have really high standards or become possessive over specific areas of work. They blame people for screwing things up. They think their personal contributions are the standard, rather than understanding our collective impact. I’d like for us to be more ecosystem-driven so that we aren’t always accusing one another of wrongdoing.”

3 Questions to Consider

Here are a few questions to help you break the cycle of blame and encourage shared responsibility in your organization. Take a moment to reflect honestly:

Do I tend to blame a particular colleague, department, or group when something goes wrong? If so, why might that be?
When something slips through the cracks, how do we usually respond as a team? Do we take time to understand what happened or do we immediately try to figure out who’s at fault?
How safe do people feel bringing up mistakes, challenges, or unmet needs? Are there clear practices or signals that encourage honesty and openness? Or do people stay quiet because they fear blame or backlash?

2 Action Steps to Get Started

Here are two simple but powerful practices to move your organization toward a culture of shared responsibility:

Host a “Mistake Party”: Once a month, encourage your team to come to a meeting ready to speak about recent mistakes. Give everyone permission to express what the mistake was, why it happened, and the support they need going forward to avoid future mistakes. Every mistake is celebrated with a round of applause or another form of positive acknowledgement. These regular gatherings break cycles of blame by establishing the norm that mistakes are a natural part of the human experience, and that the healthiest thing colleagues can do when they make a mistake is to take accountability, speak up, and ask for support.
Adopt regular debriefing practices during times of stress: When the going gets tough, build structured, low-stakes opportunities to reflect on what happened and why. Center the conversation on communication, expectations, and systems—not just individual performance or what someone did or didn’t do.

1 Healthy Mantra To Keep In Mind

“Just like me, everyone makes mistakes.”

Join the Conversation!

At Do Good Leadership Collective, we believe that nonprofit employees shouldn’t just survive their work—they should thrive in it. If you’ve found ways to move away from blame and toward collective strength, we’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments, or reach out to learn more about how we can help you and your teams create sustainable work habits.

If this post resonated with you, share it with your network or reach out to learn how we can support you in breaking cycles of blame in your organization.

Sources & More