"He is good a making excuses is seldom good for anything else." Benjamin Franklin Passing the buck, making excuses and finding a place to lay the blame seems to be a basic human trait. In Roman-Grecian times, Pubilius Syrus offered this bit of wisdom: “He is foolish to blame the sea, who is shipwrecked twice.” A well-known NFL coach coined this phrase: “Excuses interest no one except the competition.” Closer to home, the management pro, Robert Townsend said, “An important task of a manager is to reduce his people’s excuses for failure.” Am I getting close to your reality? It is tough to escape from the shackles of thinking that no matter the difficulty, no matter the challenge, no matter the reason for failure, the culprit is always someone else. Sound familiar? Do you have employees who are quick to toss the failure to someone or something else? Employees who scratch through life grasping applause and rewards –but shrink from the authoring of a project or job that went sour are found in businesses large and small. As well as workers who are "never at fault," the business world is populated with failed entrepreneurs and small business owners just making it- all quick to toss their mistakes and shortcomings on someone else’s shoulders. They blame the world. Listen and you will hear them telling anyone who will listen: “I could be successful if I could find good help.” I was doing fine until Wal Mart moved next door.” Who can succeed in a recession?” “Taxes are killing me.” “The small guy can’t compete anymore.” Not a positive approach to a better business! Are you guilty of blaming others when saddled with problems and when successful, grabbing the glory? Such is the attitude of too many troubled business owners. And it is shortsighted and counterproductive. If you don’t accept the truth that you are guilty of errors of judgment and lack of knowledge, how can you profit from the expensive education of error? And if you delight in making yourself feel better by rewarding yourself with the accolades of applause from all that goes well, you are not a team player or leader. In a few words, if it goes wrong, accept the blame- as Truman said, ” The buck stops here,” and if you strike the mother load, share the glory! A simple but profitable way to be a leader not a cantankerous complainer with an attitude of what if or if only.” Now if things are lousy, sales are down, cash flow stinks, your employees are more interested in Monday night football than your business- what do you do. Look to yourself. You start with a series of questions probing for guidance and solutions. For example: *What kind of image does it have, what kind of image does your competition have? *Are you losing customers? Why? Ask them. *Why are your employees working for you? Ask them- the answers may not be what you want to hear. *If you were in the market to buy a business, would you buy yours? If not, why not? Get my point? If you have problems- and all businesses do- and you hope for better conditions- to turn the situation around- you must have an understanding of the cause of your problems. You need to get under the hood and find out what is going on. Outward appearances tell little. As you spend some intelligent time digging into what is the real culprit of your business problems, you may discover a marvelous change in your attitude and outlook. Francis Bacon an oft-quoted English philosopher, said,” Knowledge is Power.” If you don’t know the real cause of your current business problems, from manpower to money, you will live in the fear of uncertainty with nightmares of debtor’s prison. But if you dig and uncover what is causing your business to misfire, you can use your entrepreneurial skills and get things back on track- and not waste your time looking for a scapegoat-which is a strategy that will take you down the: “Road to Perdition”! So throw out fear and discouragement with the “bath water” and discover the real root of your problems- get help if you need it- and jump back on the moonbeam to your dreams. Copyright 2003 Paul E. Adams Dr Paul E Adams, Professor Emeritus Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey & Retired Entrepreneur, Syndicated Columnist, Host of the access cable TV program "Tri -State Movers and Shakers," and Author of “Fail-Proof Your Business,” Available @ Amazon.com. Comments, questions, or suggestions to: xpaul@pikeonline.net