The virtual assassination of the scapegoat!

Leadership

What happens when something seriously goes wrong within a project?

Typically, the senior stakeholders get together for a fact-finding mission. They assess the situation and usually find a culprit (scapegoat).

The scapegoat is generally not part of fact-finding mission meetings. He/she continues to work hard to get things back on track while the senior managers decide to replace them.

After a few closed-door meetings and the virtual assassination of the scapegoat, the senior managers declare that the project is back on track.

This story tends to repeat quite often. The question is – is it the best way to handle major project issues?