For as long as I remember, my dad (John G. Miller) has been the creator and main purveyor of this thing called “QBQ!”
Twenty years now—since 1995, when I was only 12!
When people ask what it was like to grow up in “The QBQ! Home,” I tell them I’m not sure I can even answer the question. It was …
… well, my “normal”! This is how I was raised, so I don’t know any differently.
The whole “QBQ” concept has been my dad’s life for two decades—his passion, his career, his way of changing himself and then the world. But to me? It was what kept him busy, taking him away for days at a time and providing for our family.
I truly didn’t understand the power of the QBQ! book and its core message of personal accountability because, again, it was just part of our life.
Then, I began speaking on “Personal Accountability and the QBQ!” As you know, when we teach anything, we come to know and appreciate it in a new way. Part of my role at QBQ, Inc. is to support our clients who facilitate the QBQ! training program inside their organizations and they report the same phenomenon.
Anyway, I joined my dad’s team in 2008 and, boy oh boy, have I ever learned more about QBQ! in the past 7 years than in the 13 years prior!
There’s such depth to the material. Growing up with it, I didn’t understand how QBQ! changes lives—and organizations. Now, when I have the honor of sharing the material, I watch people’s faces and realize, Wow! This stuff really works!
Recently, I was in Edinburg, Texas conducting a session with the Region One Educational Service Center staff of 275 people (photo above). We did one of my favorite exercises … I asked them to list the “costs of blame.”
“What are the costs of blame?” I asked, along with, “What are we losing, missing out on, cutting from our lives when we allow blame, excuses, and culprit-seeking to run rampant in our organizations and our lives?”
Well, their actual list is to the right …
This is always a powerful exercise, because every group comes to the same conclusion:
Blame is a worthless and costly behavior!
I overhear audience participants talking about the blame they see in their marriages, parenting, and teams at work. Blame is everywhere and it costs a ton. Or as one guy in the Texas group said, “It costs us everything.”
For 20 years I’ve known of QBQ! For seven years I’ve been on the road, teaching it to others. Sometimes still surprised at the incredible depth of this life-changing tool and honored to be sharing it with others, I can honestly now say the QBQ! is no longer just my dad’s—it’s mine, too
Feel free to make QBQ! yours, as well!
Have you been exposed to the QBQ! message of Personal Accountability? If so, what has it done for you and your organization? Comment below.
Kristin E. Lindeen
@KristinLindeen
About Kristin
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2 Responses
Kristin, Thank you for the invaluable lesson. A great reminder that we (I) hold the power to change when it isn’t going my way. What is really interesting to me is how many times i review the cost of blame when assessing a situation. I usually figure out pretty quickly I can influence the change and when I start, others follow.
Paul very kind! Thanks for the feedback! And you’re right: We each hold the power to change self!