BCG Blog

My Bad

I’ve heard several hard-nosed disciplinarian leaders recently share their disdain with their people uttering the phrase “my bad”. It seems to be viewed by these leaders as a way to shirk off the responsibility of the necessary action and remove themselves from the accountability of it not being completed up to standard.

It usually comes off like this: “My bad? I know it was your bad. Who else’s bad was it? It wasn’t mine.”

I can see, and appreciate, this perspective, but I believe it neglects a few significant benefits that “my bad” can provide. It’s not all bad … there is actually some significant good that can come from “my bad”.

However, it will require a shift in our mindset.

Why Should We Care?
“My bad” simply means, it was my fault. It is meant to accept responsibility, not avoid it.  

From this view we can begin to see the value in saying “my bad”. Owning our mistakes is clearly a much needed attribute of a good leader, and anyone pursuing excellence for that matter. 

Great leaders take more than their share of the responsibility for mistakes, they take all of it. Everything that goes wrong on your team is your fault. It’s all your bad. If you aren’t willing to accept that, then don’t lead. 

A leader’s job is to serve the team members. Make their job easier, improve their experience, and help them perform at their best. Accepting responsibility for their mistakes is part of serving.

I’m a basketball coach. If my team doesn’t execute something in the game properly, that’s my fault. Maybe I didn’t allow enough time in practice for it. Maybe I didn’t explain what I wanted well enough. Or, maybe I had the wrong players in the game. In any case, I could have done something better. 

Of course the player should have remembered the play or followed through on his job and what he had been coached to do. But he didn’t. If he chose to not do it intentionally then you have a whole separate set of problems, but that’s not the norm. Most people want to do their best and want to contribute to their team. So, there must be a reason he didn’t. That reason is the responsibility of the leader.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
The application of this mindset requires us to know our team in order to balance accountability with support. Both are needed and possible with “my bad”. The key is knowing who needs what.

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​The diagram above is Jeff Janssen’s Commitment Continuum. It does an excellent job of breaking down the buckets most team members fall into.

• Say “My Bad” to the Committed & Compelled
  • On most high performing teams, the majority of the team members will either be committed or compelled to help the team reach its goals. These groups are motivated and always trying to do their best work. Accepting blame for these team members will build trust and grow their commitment to the team

 

• Do NOT say “My Bad” to the Resistant, Reluctant, & Existent
  • Your team probably doesn’t have any resistant or reluctant members. Most of these people aren’t hired, quit, or are fired shortly. The Existent people, however, are common on teams. They often are trying to decide if they really want to go all in. Saying “my bad” to existent team members is risky because they will often view it as lowering the standard. Rather than accepting blame, these team members either like the lack of accountability and see it as an opportunity to cruise or are confused by the disjointness in the agreed upon standard.

 

• Maybe “My Bad”, maybe not
  • For the Compliant contingent, we have to be careful and really know our people. “My Bad” could infuse trust and propel a team member to the committed status or it could enable a team member and drop them to existent. How each person views their responsibility and role within the group is critical to understand for the compliant people.

On elite teams, there is no “My Bad”. Everything is OUR bad. Each mistake, mishap, and failure is viewed by everyone on the team as their problem. All contributed to it and all will own more than their share. It’s one of the things that makes elite teams elite.

For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. 
We would love to know how we could help!

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