Why does it matter who is responsible for a mistake? Because the person who makes the mistake is often in one of the finest positions to suggest ways to preven

Why does it matter who is responsible for a mistake? Because the person who makes the mistake is often in one of the finest positions to suggest ways to prevent the same and similar mistakes not just by him, but by others in the future. In all, that adds great long term value to the organization. Accepting responsibility does not mean "blame" or "scapegoating". Blame and scapegoating is something done by others in the organization and reflects on a poor culture than someone accepting responsibility. It does mean seeing a situation objectively. If Mary broke the site and she knows why, it helps no one to keep that a mystery. It helps everyone if the environment lets her come forward and say it was her mistake, this is the fix and this is how we will prevent this category of mistakes in future. In fact, in order for this to work, you have to go out of your way to make sure that "responsibility" is not used to blame or scapegoat. If it is, people responsible will stop accepting responsibility.