I’m not just talking through my hat, I’ve been battling a he-said, she-said problem with a couple of vendors. The problem was that a set-in-stone deadline was missed and I stubbornly insisted on finding out exactly where the ball was dropped. The evidence produced was an undated delivery receipt. When was the product delivered from vendor A to vendor B? Who knows? Both parties can point to the “evidence” to support their point and the truth is that it doesn’t support either.

What should a responsible business person do? The bottom line is that someone is going to be pushed into a corner.  If you don’t discover exactly where the job went off track you can’t find ways to prevent it, but isn’t it important to allow people to save face?

I want to keep good working relationships with both, but I also don’t want to face a repeat. Does anyone think that by laying the issue on the table and stressing the importance of the deadline is enough hammering on the point, or is it necessary to pull out the nail and leave a permanent hole?

The blame game, is it a good idea or bad?