CYA
Have you ever considered how much behavior is motivated by an individual’s desire to cover his or her own ass? I submit the number of people choosing to cover their ass in lieu of doing what they really believe is fine has reached an epidemic. That's right, a person has a qualified, informed opinion regarding what needs to be done, however, they do something different to cover their ass. This CYA epidemic is costly and it gives people the run around.
Doctors order MRI's when someone complains of a headache. CYA, if the guy has a brain tumor, he will sue me.
Ridiculous safety measures are everywhere. Manufacturers must anticipate every conceivable way an idiot can hurt himself with the product.
Employees spend more time covering their ass than they do real work.
Blame. Blame avoidance. In our culture, more focus is placed on finding someone to blame than to correct a problem.
So, covering your ass instead of doing what you know to be right is a way to waste time, waste money, and provide piss poor service to people.
I am not advocating you give no concern to staying out of trouble, but I believe if you do the right thing, you won't have to cover your ass. In my profession, people are often afraid of being sued. I don't worry about being sued; instead, I apply the Mike Wallace test. That is, if I can picture myself explaining to Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes what I did and not be ashamed or embarrassed, then I am probably doing the right thing. If my reason is a CYA reason and not something rational, I would be embarrassed and ashamed.
If this is not enough, here is a story from Funpic.com:
Don't Cover Your AssThere was an old donkey that fell down a well on a farm. The donkey cried
& Cried for the farmer to help him, but the farmer paid him no mind.
The farmer was getting tired of the constant noise the donkey was
making, so he called all the villagers to help him bury the donkey in
the well.
They started burying the donkey, but he would shake the dirt off his
back, stomp on it, and make stairs to the top, and eventually got out of
the well.
Moral: No matter how much dirt life throws on your back, shake it off
and don't let it bring you down.
Then the donkey went and kicked the farmer, and all the other villagers.
The REAL Moral of the story: Don't cover your ass 'cause it'll always
come back to get you.
Until the next time
John Strain