Context

The human tendency to place the source of difficulties outside ourselves is strong.  This happens on both the individual level (blaming others in the group) and the group level (blaming those outside the group when things go awry). Doing that is disempowering--instead, we can choose to claim responsibility for whatever our part is in the situation. Doing this helps prevent theorizing and grandstanding, and encourages teamwork.

Instructions & Variations

Both conveying the concept and doing practices to live out that concept can be done in many different ways. The use of "I" statements (replacing, for example, "You made me angry," with "When you did X specific thing, i felt angry") has been popularized in recent years as one method, and some groups adopt a ground rule to this effect.

Examples of ways to fulfill this pattern include:

• someone in the group sharing how they feel and why they feel that way, in a way that clearly takes ownership of that feeling and responsibility for either acting from that feeling or changing it
• one or more participants asking, "What can we do?" or "How can i make a difference here?"
• icebreakers that bring out values and keep them visible, or exercises that keep the mission and purpose of the group forefront
• calling for a personal stand
• people committing to specific tasks with timelines and follow-up

Cautions & Caveats
This doesn’t mean we can’t discuss surrounding conditions, circumstances, or beliefs. However as we do so we must remember that it is our attitude, beliefs, values, and actions that we can affect, not those out there. If we do change the world it will be by who we are being as we take action.

There can also be a danger in "over-functioning": Taking sole responsibility, needing to do it all yourself, thus leading to martyrdom and/or disempowerment in others.