Before you ask who dropped the ball, check your own hands.

The instinct after a failure is to locate the missing link somewhere else in the chain, which is fast and usually incomplete. Your own contribution is the hardest part to see, because you remember your intentions and everyone else’s actions. Starting with yourself is not self blame. It is the piece of evidence you have the best access to.

In the next review, say your own part first and specifically. Ask what you could have done differently rather than who failed. The rest of the room turns honest almost immediately, because you made it safe to be.