Situation · Work
“My team blames one person for everything”
What could be going on
Scapegoating: Fits if blaming one person lets the group avoid its own failures.
One person is blamed for everything: Fits exactly; check whether the blame matches what they actually did.
Basic assumption groups (Bion): Fits if the group is acting on hidden anxiety rather than its task.
Projection: Fits if they are accused of faults the group shares.
Family roles (golden child, scapegoat, lost child, mascot): Fits if the group behaves like a stressed family needing one bad child.
In-group bias: Fits if the blamed person is different in background or status.
Questions to carry
- The last time something went wrong, how quickly did the name come up, and who said it first?
- What do I do when the blame lands on that person, and what do I feel?
Also said as
- one guy on the team takes the blame for every failure
- everyone gangs up on her
- our team has a scapegoat
- the group always points at the same person
- the team always blames the same person
- one coworker is always the scapegoat