Anupam- The Dreamer

In a risk-averse society as ours, there is a general inhibition to acknowledge and accept that there was some failure or error or act of omission or act of commission on our part which led to some bigger failure later. Take a simple example, when you were a kid and you went to someone’s home and accidently broke some flower pot or something. What is the first reaction of the kid? That I didn’t break it, or the kid tries to shift responsibility on to other kids etc. Because the kid was never taught to acknowledge that there was a mistake, because as soon as he/she accepts it, then there is a tendency to rebuke/beat the child. So, the fear of punishment and admonishment keeps the child away from taking accountability of the incident.

Similarly, when we turn adults, and we accidently hit/rub against any other car on the road, what is the first reaction? That I didn’t do it and instead you did it! Even if the other person has received serious injuries because of our mistake, then also there is a general tendency to run away from the place of accident. There may be one or two exceptions here and there, but let’s recuse those cases from the general discussion now.

Similarly, when we scale such problems on the national and international scale, then also there is a general culture of non-acknowledgement of the mistake/error. For example, suppose there is an electricity outage issue at a massive scale or ……………. or ………..(Self-censored content). The general tendency here is to first not acknowledge the issue till it turns into massive scale. Then, if it turns into massive scale where it is difficult to be ignored, then there is a tendency to shift accountability to others. But, that does not solve the “systemic” problem, rather some quick-fixes are searched and applied to the problem at hand. Unless there is an acknowledgement that there was a mistake/error/policy-issue/systemic deficiency, how can we ensure that the problem does not occur in the future and there is an overall improvement of the situation? We are happy to brush the problem under the carpet until it emerges again in some bigger form. This is again an outcome of our risk-averse behavior that is taught from the childhood.

Now, take the international issue of climate change. If some global leaders don’t even acknowledge that there is a “real” climate change issue, then forget about moving an inch towards resolution of that problem. But, as it is said that turning your head in the sand like an ostrich doesn’t shoo away the problem, likewise turning a blind eye towards problems facing the humanity doesn’t automatically dissipate them or solve them in any way.

Moreover, it is seen on a number of instances that if the problem is not acknowledged at the first instance, accountability fixed, systemic changes done to rectify that and prevent recurrence, then it can snowball in much bigger problems later. Classic examples are climate change, ozone layer depletion, economic crisis, air pollution etc etc. One can also find similar examples at individual, societal, national and international level too.

Also, unless we don’t acknowledge the mistakes or problems, then there will be no improvement in the present situation and there will only we status-quo. But, acknowledgement of a wrong-doing/mistake/error requires immense moral courage and mental strength, which has become quite rare these days. Owning up responsibility and accepting the mistake, is not a domain of the cowards. How can you expect someone who has never accepted responsibility for a small mistake in life to grow up as a man or a woman and suddenly start shouldering huge responsibilities? That may happen in movies but doesn’t happen in reality!

In some cultures, acknowledgement of failures or mistakes is not frowned upon and even it is celebrated! The focus there is on improvement, corrections and taking risks to come out with something better. Acknowledgement of a problem is the first step towards the long road to improvement. And there can be no improvement without taking even the first step. So, we must appreciate to acknowledge if there is a failure or mistake, and take steps to remedy the situation so that the chances of it occurring in the future are reduced to a minimum. Is it not the proper way to move towards better systems, better workplaces and better world?

Till next time….