The Dodge

An ugly 1986 Dodge Omni

There's "The incompetence dodge"  where... "American policymakers and pundits routinely try to rescue the reputation of bad ideas by attributing their failure to poor execution. At the time, they were writing about the liberal hawks who were blaming the catastrophe of the Iraq war on the Bush administration’s maladministration rather than rethinking the enterprise in its totality."

Recently at work, a co-worker, who was trying to -- as another colleague said -- "cover her ass" -- was talking to me, her boss.  "I was just looking over the stall at the student because I knew that she was smoking marijuana."  Then she looked at me and said, "because it's our responsibility to protect kids when we suspect something, right?"  And I realized that this was a dodge, a tactic, whereby she would then go one to a higher boss, who had called a disciplinary meeting, and was going to say, "and my boss agreed with me" (if I had agreed with the "because it's our..."  When I did not give her assent.  (I should have said: "it really depends on how seriously we think the kid is likely hurting herself in the moment).  And she insisted, "isn't it? isn't it?"

Later, at the more serious meeting, with union representation, she starts the meeting jovially, admitted that she's shown real growth in "taking attendance" and she used to be bad and now she's good.  Later at the meeting, she insists that she' cares so much about a student and that's why she was providing a 1:1 aide for a kid who was humiliated by it and was never supposed to have one.  She also said that the kid had a "scribe" for his broken arm in Septmeber, so that's why he continued (without a broken arm) to need one months later, and there was a phrase in the kid's IEP about the kid who needed "constant observation" (or some off-hand remark) to confuse the term with a 1:1 aide, and then (in a third instance of discipline) said that she was speaking "enthusiastically and passionately" to a kid and not, like the dean said, "letting loose on the kid."  These were the dodges she made to avoid taking responsibility and getting "a letter in her file."  At the end of the meeting, this boss said, "she was trying to cover her ass."

Because of this situation and another one I dealt with for another teacher this week, I asked ChatGPT to develop a list of "dodging moves" people take.

Here are ten common dodging moves people might make to avoid taking responsibility:

1. Blaming others: Pointing fingers at someone else or external factors to deflect attention from one's own actions or decisions.

2. Making excuses: Providing reasons or justifications to rationalize why they couldn't or didn't fulfill their responsibilities.

3. Minimizing the situation: Downplaying the significance or impact of their actions to make it seem less serious.

4. Denying involvement: Flat-out denying any role or responsibility in the situation, even when evidence suggests otherwise.

5. Shifting focus: Redirecting the conversation away from their actions by bringing up unrelated topics or issues.

6. Playing the victim: Casting themselves as the victim of circumstances to garner sympathy and avoid accountability.

7. Using ambiguity: Being intentionally vague or unclear to evade direct questions or accusations.

8. Delaying tactics: Procrastinating or stalling to avoid addressing the issue or taking action.

9. Offering false apologies: Apologizing insincerely or without genuine remorse to appease others without accepting responsibility.

10. Gaslighting: Manipulating others into questioning their own perceptions or memory of events to avoid accountability.