A Very Public Screw Up

Blame Culture, Isolate the Problem, Not the Person

At the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1991, Formula One racing provided a textbook example of why organisations should avoid a blame culture.

Nigel Mansell, driving for the Williams-Renault team, was in first place as he pulled in for a pit stop. What should have been a slick sub-eight-second refuel and tyre change became a farce. As Mansell sped away from the pits, the wheel fell off, literally. People scurried out of the way to avoid being flattened by the tyre as it bounced along the pit lane into neighbouring crews.

By the time the Williams team had rectified the situation, replacing the wheel outside the pit box (violating all the rules), Mansell had fallen to 17th place and was ultimately disqualified for safety breaches. Williams-Renault’s chance of winning the championship that year died as the car sat stranded on three wheels. It was a very public screw-up.

What Happened?

The rules in a pit stop were simple. A team of mechanics would descend on the car. After finishing their task, they stuck their hands in the air to signal the all-clear. When all the hands were up, the team leader (also known as the lollipop man because of the sign he holds) signalled the driver that he could leave.

On this occasion, the mechanic who had just replaced the right rear wheel raised his hand into the air, but his teammate hadn’t finished tightening the bolt. According to Mark Jenkins (in his book Performance at the Limit), the mechanic wasn’t signalling completion but trying to get help for his colleague who had cross-threaded a bolt and needed a new one.

You can see the action in this video.

What Would Happen in Your Business?

The mechanic shouldn’t have raised his hand, nor should the lollipop man have signalled the all-clear until everybody’s hands were up. It cost Williams-Renault dearly.

In most businesses, the blame culture would have kicked in. Those responsible would (at the very least) have been put on “personal development plans.” In many organisations, it would have been curtains on their careers. The purchasing team who bought the bolts would also have received a good kicking. Clearly, the bolts were no good, and here was an opportunity to distribute some blame. They, in turn, would have scalded the supplier and demanded a penalty payment for the failure.

What Would You Have Done?

Imagine you were the mechanic with a couple of seconds to tighten a wheel with a cross-threaded bolt. How would you have behaved in the heat of the moment? I’d like to think I’d have had the sense to stick my hand up for help and try to get another one. What about you?

What Did Williams-Renault Do?

After reviewing the event, they decided their procedures had several holes. (If you watch the video in slow motion, as I was sad enough to do, it is all a bit unclear).

Williams revised their entire pitstop process. Up to that point, every team member should have raised a hand to show that their task was complete. Over 20 people work on a pit stop. Each wheel has a man to release and tighten the bolt, a man to remove the old tyre and another to put the new one in place. That is twelve people for a start. Then there are people refuelling the car, jacking it up, stabilising it, and letting it down. Some people clean visors and clear air ducts and others stand by with fire extinguishers. That is a lot of hands for the lollipop man to count and make a split-second decision.

Williams realised that within each sub-team, they only needed the man who was doing the last job to put his hand up to signal the all-clear. That made things a lot more obvious. Then, in an extra dose of sophistication, they gave these “last men” yellow gloves to wear, helping avoid confusion.

Perhaps most significant is the point about blame culture that Mark Williams draws out in his book.

We don’t hang anyone out to dry. You don’t just point a finger at someone and say they are to blame. That doesn’t help because all you do is create bad feeling. You try to isolate the problem and not the person.

Dickie Stanford, Williams-Renault Team Manager

Progress comes from understanding and resolving the problem, not “fixing” the person.

The following year, the Williams car, driven by Nigel Mansell, won the World Championship. Would your business have done the same?

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