One Goal, Three Job Titles (Part 2): Why Blame Keeps Happening

In this episode

If everyone knows blame is corrosive, why does it keep happening, even in good teams, with good people?

Because you are not watching people misbehave. You are watching targets do exactly what they were built to do.

In this episode, MJ looks at what each function in a building is actually paid to protect. A facilities contractor billed per callout has no reason to prevent the callout. An asset manager judged on this year's operating cost has every reason to push the capital spend into next year. A property manager measured on occupancy has a quiet reason to soften the problem. Nobody in that room is being difficult. Each one is being rational.

The culture is the symptom. The misaligned incentive is the cause. And you cannot train your way out of a structure that rewards the behaviour you are trying to remove.

From there: why the fix is a shared set of targets rather than a better attitude, how planned maintenance stops being a maintenance term and becomes a financial one, and why net operating income is the number that turns a repair into a change in what the asset is worth.

Part 2 of 3. Part 1 covered why the defensive reflex starts and the difference between blame and accountability. Part 3 goes down to the floor, with the people running the asset, and the one skill nobody teaches.

Floor Notes. Three levels deep.

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So, if everyone knows blame is corrosive, why does it keep happening? Because you're not watching people misbehave, you're watching their targets or KPI do exactly what they were built to do. Look at what each function is actually paid to protect. A facilities contractor built per call out has no reason to prevent the call-out. Prevention is lost revenue to them. An asset manager judged on this year's operating cost that has every reason to push the capital spent into the next year. And a property manager measured on occupancy has a quiet reason to soften the problem that might unsettle an occupant.

Nobody in that room is being difficult. Each one is being rational. The operating model is paying three people to protect three different corners, and then we act surprised when they do. That is the real mechanism underneath the toxic culture. The culture is the symptom, the misaligned incentive is the cause, and you cannot train your way out of a structure that rewards the behavior you're trying to remove. So, the fix is not a battery attitude, it is a shared set of objectives and targets. When all three functions are measured against the same outcome, the health and the performance of the asset, the pull to defend a corner fades because there are no longer three corners.

There is one number, they all move together. And this is where plan maintenance stops being a maintenance term and becomes a financial one. Here is why that matters in numbers, not sentiment. An income-producing asset is valued on its NOI. Net operating income. Protect the income, you protect the value. Erod it through reactive spend and a shortened asset life, and you have not just paid for a repair, you have lowered what the asset is worth. That is the mechanism. But knowing it and making the case for it are two different things, and that is the part nobody adds in your job description.

So let me take you where this actually plays out. Down on the floor with the people running the asset. Because there's one skill that quietly changes all of it, and it is not anyone's job description. Floor notes 3 levels 3.

Key Takeaways

Blame can persist because people act rationally according to the targets and incentives their roles reward.

A facilities contractor paid per callout has little incentive to prevent callouts; an asset manager focused on this year’s operating costs may defer capital spending; and an occupancy-focused property manager may soften problems.

The episode argues that shared targets address misaligned incentives more effectively than trying to train people into different behaviour.

Planned maintenance is discussed as a financial issue, and net operating income as the figure connecting repairs to an asset’s value.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does blame keep happening in good teams?

The episode attributes it to incentives that reward behaviours the team is trying to remove.

What does the episode suggest as a fix for misaligned incentives?

A shared set of targets rather than a better attitude.

What does Part 1 cover?

Why the defensive reflex starts and the difference between blame and accountability.

What is Three Levels Deep?

A weekly series about real estate, property, and asset management, organized around Know it, Apply it, and Advise on it.