Especially in corporate cultures, people spend a great deal of time covering their butts. The ever-popular CYA acronym acts as a cautionary mantra to protect yourself from criticism, penalties, or repercussion. The more blameless you are, the better you’re doing your job.

Or are you?

Lately, I’ve been embracing the opposite. Instead of expending effort to remain blameless, I’m putting myself in situations where I’m the one to blame. I’m realizing that this has benefit.

I consult with enterprise teams on their design systems and their culture. Typically, that means I’ll work with a team for anywhere from 6 weeks to a year to show them how to do something I know how to do that they don’t yet, like set up a sustainable design system practice or deepen their cross-discipline collaboration. Inevitably, this consulting leads them to some new ideas that they’re nervous to try. So what do I suggest to get them to try it?

I tell them to blame me.

I’m all too cognizant of the technique to bring in a consultant to take the blame for an initiative that’s already spiraling downwards, unfortunately from personal experience. (More on that another time.)

But sometimes, I can use it to my advantage.

Sometimes, bringing me in is exactly the amount of air cover a team needs to do something “wacky” or “wild” and be a rascal like doing Summer Fridays™ year round or upending a previously established process. If, for whatever reason, the experiment doesn’t work, the team doesn’t need to take the fall for it; if anyone asks, they can say “that wacky consultant guy suggested it… what a weirdo he was.”

(Of course, it only works when the consultant is in a position of power of privilege, specifically with some relational equity to spare. Done wrong, it’s too reminiscent of the glass cliff many women CEOs face to take the fall for already-sinking ships.)

This technique has benefits outside of a work environment too. When my kids get homesick at sleepovers or uncomfortable when their friend groups engage in some mischievous activity, my wife and I tell them to blame it on us by saying their “super-strict dad wants them home sooner than expected, ugh.” It lets them save face with their friends while still elegantly extracting themselves from some awkward situations.

Instead of covering your butt so much, maybe you could be more of someone to blame.

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