How to Save the World in Four Steps

There is a learning opportunity for Newfoundland and Labrador currently underway in the United States.

Because a man with a bomb in his underwear almost killed about 300 people on a flight to Detroit, a huge uproar has surfaced over how well the nation's Homeland Security departments are doing their jobs.

There is a similarity in the aftermath of this event to our own health care flap. When it was revealed that faulty tests were used to diagnose people with cancer, or to give them a clear bill of health, the people's trust in our health system was dramatically put into question.

Just as various politicians and departments of Homeland Security began pointing fingers at each other after the Christmas attack, an entire inquiry saw politicians and health care professionals here shift blame and deny responsibility.

This type of reaction is frustrating and counter-productive. But what is the alternative? How can a problem that was spread throughout several agencies and groups of people be blamed on one individual?

The solution is currently being shown to us in President Obama's handling of the situation south of the border.

His first step was to openly and quickly inform the public of what is known about the situation. Some critics say his three-day delay was too long, but compare that to the months of secrecy surrounding the receptor tests.

Second, he pulled together everyone involved and made a clear assessment of what went wrong. His term "systemic failure" is apt: it recognizes that many levels were involved, and it was not one person's fault.

Third, he outlined the steps that will be taken to prevent this issue from ever happening again.

And fourth, and most importantly, he emphatically stated that he will not tolerate finger-pointing. He backed this up by taking ultimate responsibility for the actions of his entire government: "The buck stops with me"

We have an excellent leader in Premier Danny Williams, and several of the above elements were evident in the eventual, though tragically belated, response to the faulty receptor tests.

However, a quicker, more decisive response and acceptance of responsibility may have saved time and encouraged others to accept some of the blame and feel comfortable telling us the facts of the situation.

We must remember that we are all in this together, and everyone has a shared responsibility to do what is right. The more we can accept that everyone makes mistakes and focus more on solving problems than arguing over who's to blame, the better off we'll be.