They say
“That’s not my fault.”
Your response
“Let’s separate cause from responsibility. Walk me through what happened, what was outside your control, and what you could have done or raised earlier. Then we’ll agree on what needs to change next time.”
01
First, check this
Are you treating a system, resource, priority, or ownership failure as an individual performance problem?
02
Why this works
It avoids turning the conversation into a trial about who is to blame. External causes can be real, and the manager may own some of them, but that does not answer what the employee could influence or escalate. The final turn toward what changes next keeps this broad page from duplicating every specific obstacle that may sit underneath it.
03
Don’t say
“I don’t want to hear excuses.”