When we are “shifting responsibility” it means trying to place blame on someone else through carefully crafted wordsmithing. Call it what you wish, placing the blame on someone else to get us off the hook is bad ju-ju.
Look around you, you know someone in your circle who is very skilled at shirking responsibility for a project until it is a success, then they are just as skilled as positioning themselves as the architect of the success. This is a fine art and should be honored for the skill required to maneuver in and out of situations, but that is about the only thing for which to honor the craft. If you look around you and do not see someone in your workplace who is especially good at this process, perhaps it is you!
At one time I was very good at shifting responsibility. Nothing that went sideways around me was my responsibility no matter if it was in my business or my personal life. The problem I found with this approach to life was that when a long day of shifting responsibility was done I was left with the feeling that everyone around me was incompetent, irresponsible or untrustworthy. On those days when I could claim responsibility for other’s work, there was a hollow feeling within me screaming “you are a fraud, you have no talent.” It was a lose, lose situation.
Even if we can look someone directly in the eyes and tell them our failure is their fault we still have to look at ourselves in the mirror, and at that point there is no place to hide. Stand in your integrity. If you make an error, own it. If someone else is the architect of your success admit it. You create your own reality.