Madow, L.
(1974).
Anger.
"Some people unfortunately sacrifice their health and happiness on the altar of justice. Justice is an elusive ideal. If a situation bothers you, the best thing to do is to make the changes necessary for your own comfort. Insisting that blame be placed where it belongs and that the person at fault must be the one to change may only lead to further unhappiness." (p. 124)
Miller, J.
(2002).
The Anxious Organization: Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things.
"In organizations where anxiety is often expressed as blame, to avoid being blamed becomes a constant preoccupation. People attempt to preempt blame by sending each other memos recapitulating who did what and when. Their attention shifts from avoiding a potential problem to avoid being blamed for it." (p. 145)
Kottler, J.
(2003).
Beyond Blame: How to Resolve Conflicts with Friends, Lovers, and Co-Workers.
"Avoid even the appearance of blame. No surprise here. This is, after all, the main theme of this book....
"There is nothing that will sabotage any strategy you employ more quickly than the mere suggestion that you are blaming the other person for the troubles. Equally detrimental is for you to accept blame that is directed toward you. This compliance tactic (perhaps even driven by the misguided belief that one person can be at fault in a conflict) will only encourage further fault-finding in the future." (p. 223)
Senge, P. M.
(1990).
The Fifth Discipline.
"All too often, teams in business tend to spend their time fighting for turf, avoiding anything that will make them look bad personally, and pretending that everyone is behind the team's collective strategy—maintaining the appearance of a cohesive team. To keep up the image, they seek to squelch disagreement; people with serious reservations avoid stating them publicly, and joint decisions are watered-down compromises reflecting what everyone can live with, or else reflecting one person's view foisted on the group. If there is disagreement, it's usually expressed in a manner that lays blame, polarizes opinion, and fails to reveal the underlying differences in assumptions and experience in a way that the team as a whole could learn."
Jackall, R.
(1989).
Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers.
"Given the proper assurances and assumptions, acceptance of blame can be an exercise in loyalty, although it is never without risk. But the more frequent case is when those with the power to do so foist or allow blame to fall on unwary or inexperienced underlings. They do so to cover up their own mistakes, or to extricate themselves from potentially embarrassing or politically untenable situations." (p. 86)
Crosby, P. B.
(1980).
Quality Is Free.
"Objectivity comes with not placing the blame for problems on individuals. Aim the questions and probing at the job. The job is what failed, not the individual. It may be that the two are imperfectly matched and you have to change one or the other. Either way, the individual has the chance to improve another time, under different conditions." (p. 75)
Middelton-Moz, J.
(1990).
Shame & Guilt: Masters of Disguise.
"Children who grow up in shaming environments quickly learn that one must blame or be blamed. There are very few compromises in shaming environments. It often feels like we are playing 'emotional hot potato' in our adult relationships...Passing the blame to someone else is our attempt to protect an already injured self from more wounds." (p. 82)