I’d like to say this is a fictitious camp but I’m not sure that it is. Everyone who comes into this camp bears no responsibility. All campers have one thing in common.
It’s never their fault. It is always someone else’s fault. They live in their camps throughout their lives blissfully unaware that they too have to take on responsibility.
Let me introduce you to some of the people in the camp. Antoinette runs a busy sandwich shop. She cuts corners on use by dates and sometimes her customers get sick. When she hears a complaint she immediately accuses the other party of having a weak tummy. It’s not Antoinette’s fault.
Charlie is drug dependent. He sees an 80 year old woman walking to the shops. He snatches her handbag. She hangs on so he gives her a kick and ruins her quality of life through fear and pain. When asked about his reasons he says “ I had to do it, I needed the money”. He ignores the old woman’s misery and accepts that it was really the only thing he could do.
I love prison books. If you ever get a chance read the Sunday Smuggler. I won’t tell you anything about it other than it’s riveting and he’s an Australian. One of my mate’s delivers healthcare to prisoners. He assures me that almost all of them are innocent in their own minds.
Now the last feller I’ll introduce you to is Eric. Eric camps at workplaces. He is a bully. He lies and cheats. He loves to berate staff although he calls it performance management. He cares nothing for his people. But in his mind he is a terrific boss working for the shareholders. He bears no responsibility for all the duress that he causes.
If you’re in the camp of no responsibility, will you please decide to exit. You’ve got lots of choices and please stop blaming circumstances for your actions. It is quite easy to justify actions in your own head. Some of the workplace stories we hear about bullying and intimidation are very sad. But the behaviour is usually watered down and justified by the perpetrators. You can add up all your actions and assumptions and hey presto your deeds are OK. Maybe its time to question those actions and assumptions. Have a chat with a friend as a starting point. Maybe try Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with a psychologist. That’s a great tool to test your assumptions with an independent professional. You might even find that you’re more in the camp of no responsibility than you thought. But the good news is that you can exit the camp too.
A fantastic course to help check out of the camp of no responsibilty is:
