When you can't find your keys in the morning, is your first reaction to yell "Honey, where'd you put my keys?" When you're late for work after not being able to find your keys for 20-30minutes do you give the excuse "Sorry, I couldn't find my keys" or do you lie and say "Man, traffic was such a bear!"

Inspect yourself and watch your teammates for this type of behavior as it is a sign that they lack responsibility. Responsibility is a pillar of great teams because responsibility builds trust and accountability. When individuals are responsible for their actions no matter the outcome then you can start to trust eachother better and improve.

The key to this mature responsible thinking is remembering it is OK to make mistakes. No, it is GOOD to make mistakes. Without mistakes, we learn nothing. Unfortunately, some organizations have built so much culture and process around eliminating mistakes that they cease to function on a level that encourages learning or growth!

There's a type of procrastination that may be familiar to many of us. It's basically procrastination through perfectionism. Effectively, this means that a perfectionist is so afraid of making a mistake that they put off doing anything until the have a proper plan or maybe the put it off completely and never get around to it. "Oh why bother, i wouldn't be able to do it the _right_ way, so why do it at all?"

Now which feels better, letting people know you made a mistake? or some random guy mentioning your mistake at a meeting in front of everyone when you were trying so hard to cover it up?

Go out, try hard, and if you make a mistake, let everyone why you made the mistake and how you learned from it and they will learn from it then too. Enjoy your mistakes because you learned something you didn't know before!

One thing that I try to work into conversations about our daily scrums is that, impediments are not someone's fault. They just are what they are and we need to create a solution! This culture has to start by setting a good example, so don't punish people for making mistakes. Congratulate them! For they just saved you a hard lesson.

Responsibility Process Model