Blame Distribution
I was flying from Montreal to Chicago, heading from one speaking engagement to the next, when we were informed our flight was delayed because a flight attendant didn’t have their “tool.”
My first thought: What kind of tool?
I’ve seen flight attendants operate a snack cart with military precision, but I’ve never seen one carrying a wrench. Most flight attendants do not really come off as handy.
A tall Montreal native in his late 60s (think understandably canceled cartoon skunk Pepe Le Pew meets Liam Neeson) asked for clarification in French. The answer caused an immediate personality change. He went from a mildly inconvenienced traveler to someone who looked prepared to negotiate hostage situations. You do not need to speak French to understand what an angry French-speaking person is saying.
Five minutes earlier, I thought this guy needed therapy. Now I was considering putting him in charge.
Since my French-speaking skills are what would be described as…nonexistent, I asked what happened.
Turns out the “tool” was a phone left behind in a hotel room by a flight attendant.
And apparently, in our modern age of technological advancement, planes can’t leave unless all flight attendants have their phones.
So let me understand this.
Three hundred adults. Business meetings. Missed connections. Family events. Thousands of dollars.
All delayed because “Kayla” forgot her phone at the Marriott?
She has unknowingly become the single point of failure for North American aviation.
Now before anyone gets upset, this isn’t about Kayla.
Humans forget things.
Humans get distracted.
Humans leave phones in hotel rooms because they’re rushing to jobs involving hundreds of impatient strangers and irregular sleep schedules.
The interesting part isn’t the mistake. It’s the system.
Because there’s probably an operational term for this situation.
A regulatory term. A compliance term. I prefer the technical term: bullshit.
There are lots of reasons planes shouldn’t fly. Weather. Mechanical issues. Damage. Computer failures.
But “Kayla has ADHD” feels like a strange addition to the list next to engine malfunction.
Humans make mistakes. Systems decide whether one mistake ruins everyone’s day.
That’s where leaders often get confused. Customers rarely remember your policies. They remember how frustrated your employees looked trying to explain them.
The gate agent gets blamed. The call center rep gets blamed. The technician gets blamed. Usually by angry people demanding answers from the individuals with the least control over the problem.
Over time, something dangerously weird happens.
Spend enough years apologizing for policies you didn’t create, and eventually people stop, how does one say…giving a crap.
Not because people are lazy. Because surviving repeated conflict changes people.
Then leaders wonder: “Why aren’t our employees more customer-focused?”
Because some environments slowly train people to brace for impact instead of building good relationships. It can make even the most dedicated hard worker start dating someone who owns a weed dispensary.
Three things matter here:
- A system where one common human mistake disrupts the foundation of operations is fragile.
- Employees carrying too much preventable burden eventually burn out or leave.
- Customers who repeatedly turn against frontline workers stop seeing employees as helpers and start seeing them as the problem.
That last one matters more than most leaders realize.
Because once customers emotionally turn on your people, you’re no longer managing relationships. You’re managing damage.
You’re participating in target practice while actually being the target.
We’re in the early stages of AI, automation, and technology becoming embedded in nearly everything (that should be the scary part, not dealing with Kayla). Technology should reduce the burden of being human. Not increase it.
The problem usually isn’t technology. It’s design. If your systems don’t account for human mistakes, they don’t make your organization stronger.
Regret should be predictable. They make your failures more visible. And more personal.
Your customers never experience your strategy. They experience your people.
And as I always say, what flies out of the direct supervisor’s mouth…is the culture.
If your company’s reputation depends on whether someone remembered their phone at the Marriott, you don’t have a people problem.
You built a system that fails exactly the way it was designed to.
Garrison Wynn is a bestselling author, speaker, and consultant. He can be reached at Garrisonwynn.com.