THE SCAPEGOAT GAME AT WORKPLACE.

The management team of Hudson Enterprises, a chain of women’s apparel stores, was miserably reviewing their year-end results, which showed a 32 percent decline in sales from previous year. 

‘’ This is clearly an advertising problem,” said the CEO. “Our ads just aren’t getting people into the stores”.

“But this year’s ad campaign was almost the same as last year’s,” responded the marketing Vice President. “And last year sales were great. What changed was the merchandise.”

“Yes, but the people have to actually come into the stores to buy the merchandise,” responded the CEO. “And the Ads just didn’t get them in this year.”

“In the stores where we measured traffic, plenty of people came in,” said the marketing VP.

“They just left without buying anything.”

“Well, the Ads apparently weren’t attracting the right customers. So perhaps using last year’s campaign was a bad decision,” stated the CEO.

“Our typical customer profile hasn’t changed for years,” said the marketing VP. “We just stopped carrying the kind of clothes that they like.”

“The new styles were great!” yelled the CEO. “I picked most of those lines myself. You must keep up with the trend. And your ad campaign is old-fashioned.” As they left the meeting the operations executive turned to her colleague. “You might as well give it up,” she said. “He’s decided that this is an advertising problem, so it’s going to be an advertising problem. The facts are completely irrelevant.

Identifying the pattern: The scapegoat game requires a target and a problem; it can be played by individuals or groups. In scapegoat the target is quickly determined to be the cause of the problem, with no examination of other possibilities. When scapegoat is played between colleagues, their blame-shifting discussions sometimes resemble a tennis match. Taken to a higher level, scapegoat can also be played by entire departments. If your boss is an enduring scapegoat player, the game can be risky, because bosses often have the power to punish people. Politically inexpert players, who try to make their boss a target, usually get to an unsuccessful end.

The expressive payoff: “If I’m not the cause of the problem, then I don’t have to feel responsible, guilty, or stupid.”

Downsides for players: a) Resentful and angry scapegoat targets will often try to revenge when future problems arise. b) Successful scapegoating usually means that the real issue is never identified, so the problem continues.

Revealing the game: Scapegoat can be exposed by peacefully commenting on what seems to be occurring. An observer might simply say, “We seem to be settling on advertising as the only cause of the problem. There may be other contributing factors.” Targets, however, will sound less distrustful if they use a question: “Do you feel that advertising is the sole cause of the problem?”

Countermoves: In scapegoat, countermoves are about shifting attention from the target, broaden the scope of the discussion, and determine the true source of the struggle. If you have a boss who likes to play this game, you may have to distract significant energy to ongoing CYA (“Cover your ass”) activity:

·      Avoid arguing, because no one likes being blamed, scapegoat discussions can turn into heated debates. Targets, who feel with some justification that they are being unfairly attacked, often respond kindly, turning the discussion into a free-for-all.

·      Try acknowledging partial responsibility: To avoid appearing defensive, targets may volunteer to accept some portion of the responsibility. “It’s possible that advertising could have played a role, so I’ll look into that and report back at the next meeting. But there maybe more than one factor at work here.”

·      Defend yourself slightly: Without firing back directly, try to incorporate a line of defence into your response: “Well, we did use the same ad campaign as last year, but it might not have worked quite as well with this year’s merchandise.”

·      Expand the scope of conversation: Request people to consider other possible causes of the problem: “Advertising is certainly one possible factor. What else might have contributed to a decline in sales?”

·      Get the facts: one of the best countermoves in scapegoat is to have facts available that support your case or point to the real reason for the problem.

The end of the game: When scapegoat is a group pastime, the game ends when members decide to adopt a more constructive method of problem solving. But if your boss likes to play scapegoat, the game will only end when you get a new boss.