Plausible Deniability

I could have sworn that I'd written a blog about plausible deniability, but I can't find it.  So, I guess that's my topic.  I was looking for what I thought was a previous blog for a reason.  I wrote yesterday's blog with the intention of copying it onto LinkedIn today and sharing it via social media.  I was pretty busy today and just never had the time to make that decision.  Yesterday's blog calls a number of folks out, and in some ways I wanted to give them more time to respond.  I'm pretty fed up with the way some organizations work.  Having been taken advantage of in the past, I'm ok with sucking it up if it's for the greater good, but at some point one has to stand up and fight back.

We're in a crisis.  I'm reminded of all of the times I've heard nursing home owners and leaders say that they had told everyone to "do the right thing."  Yet behind the scenes, they tied the hands of people in one way or another, so that they could not actually be effective in getting things done.  That also seems to be going on in Washington right now.  We hear some public officials acting as if they're doing everything possible, or that they've given edicts to do everything possible.  Yet nothing is happening.  Leaders have to own results.  That's something that I've always been proud of.  Whenever I've been in a leadership role, if things don't work out, I'll own it.  Regardless of how much responsibility I had, I'll still own it.  That's what leaders should do.

The concept of plausible deniability is one that we should all be aware of.  It's a cloak to hide behind. It's an excuse for both incompetence on one hand, and immorality on the other.  If you really support something, you should be demonstrating it with actions and deeds.  Only then can you take full responsibility for what happens.  Only then can others let you off the hook if things were clearly out of your control.  That's the irony of this viral pandemic.  If people thought that everything that could be done was being done, they would let our leader off the hook if things don't turn out well.  However, when we see other countries making things happen that we've been unable to do, one has to pause.  We are the greatest country in the world. At least we were.  South Korea appears to be making an attempt to claim that mantle.  Their response to COVID-19 has been textbook, while we've been stumbling around with Dick and Jane meet the Coronavirus.  But, we'll hear our leaders say that they're doing everything possible.  That's plausible deniability.