The Motte and Bailey (Part 2 of 5)

"Psychological safety"?

Look closer. It's a blame culture wearing a Halloween mask.

Every meeting has invisible scoreboards.

Who gets blamed when reality hits?

Who covered their ass best?

Who left paper trails?

Motte and bailey isn't communication failure.

It's blame insurance.

"We need to execute perfectly" can't be blamed—it's aspiration.

CYA ticking clock:

Email chains with "per my last email"

Meetings documenting who said what

Vague commitments.

Success has many parents, failure is yours alone.

Organizations say "blameless culture" while keeping score of every mistake.

Smart people don't retreat because they're weak.

They retreat because they've seen the consequences for those who don't.

In blame cultures, truth-telling is career suicide.

Everyone builds their castle.

(But here's what's truly insidious...)

Next: The shocking truth—both sides NEED the retreat.