A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Moving from Blame to Action
by Janice Molloy
Like almost everyone else, I've followed the news about the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico with horror, disbelief, 
sadness, and anger. The death of the 11 oil-rig workers, the loss of countless animal lives and devastation of the food chain, the befouling of a beautiful and important natural resource, and the impact on jobs--any one of these consequences would be a tragedy in and of itself.
Of course, there are plenty of fingers to point in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil-rig explosion and ensuing ecological disaster. The folks at Grist even created a pie chart showing their estimation of "Who's to blame for the Gulf oil gusher."
The problem with blame is that, as Marilyn Paul says in an article in The Systems Thinker titled, "Moving from Blame to Accountability," "Where there is blame, open minds close, inquiry tends to cease, and the desire to understand the whole system diminishes. . . . Blame rarely enhances our understanding of our situation and often hampers effective problem solving." She was referring to the organizational setting, but it's relevant in this case, too.
If we focus on casting blame for what happened with Deepwater Horizon and think our job is done, then we'll never get to the real root of the problem and develop long-term solutions. But if we're truly ready to understand the system, even if we don't like what we see, then we may be able to prevent future crises.
Going back to Grist's "The Blame Game" pie chart, most of what appears is no surprise: BP clearly and rightly bears the brunt of the responsibility, and other parties contributed through acts of omission if not commission. But who did Grist list as the number two contributor to the problem? The answer: All those who drive, fly, heat and cool our homes, use the multitude of products that contain petrochemicals--in short, each and every one of us. Unlike a hurricane, earthquake, or tsunami, this disaster occurred in the course of extracting resources from the earth to support our way of life. At some level--BP's criminal negligence notwithstanding--this crisis is something we have done to ourselves.
But if there's any bright spot, from what I've seen in the media, more and more people seem to be acknowledging our collective role in the larger issue at stake--that of oil dependency. And as systems thinking teaches, when we acknowledge that we are part of the problem, then we can start being part of the solution.
Yesterday was World Oceans Day. Huffington Post, in collaboration with Meetups Everywhere, encouraged concerned citizens to get together to talk about ways to help the Gulf oil-spill clean-up effort, strategies for reducing our reliance on oil, and possibilities for working toward a clean energy future. More than 1,500 people self-organized into 300 Meetups around the country. Other initiatives have been launched around the U.S., as people begin to recognize the limitations to relying on corporations and the government to solve complex problems.
As Stanford economist Paul Romer said, "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste." Let's assume collective responsibility for creating a better future by working to ensure that the current crisis leads to fundamental changes--at all levels.
Janice Molloy is content director of Pegasus Communications, managing editor of The Systems Thinker newsletter, and program director of the annual Systems Thinking in Action conference.
Deepwater Horizon photo from the U.S. Coast Guard