Matt Yglesias has a great post on Attribution Theory. If you go back to Psych 101 you'll remember that attribution deals with how we explain our behavior. In general an internal loci attributes causality to you and an external to someone or something else. Check the example, I finish up after the jump:
Internal: In the semi-final matchup in the NCAA Final Four John torches the opponents for 37 points. After the game he credits his hard work over the summer and his extra preparation in the previous days practice.
External: In the championship game John scores only 9 points and misses a game high 17 shots. After the game he mentions the coaches flawed game plan and the inability of his teammates to get him the ball.
As a consultant I can say that many business people lauded themselves ad infinitum for their success during the boom. They were high on internal, rolling in bonuses and ego. Now that the growth by default business environment has passed those same individuals are finding fault in an external a.k.a "the economy." Nothing on the downside has to do with their skillset or lack thereof, their failure is all beyond their control.
While it's front and center in the business community at the moment, this is a fairly common condition in all humans and takes a lot of practice and focus to fix. With a lot of honesty and a little analysis anyone can find the appropriate mix to explain a success or failure, the trick is wanting to do so...afterall why credit fortuitous timing or serendipity when you can credit yourself? I'm competitive so I'm always assessing myself after a failure. Even if it's clearly external I hate the thought of my fortunes being out of my control.
But I guess if I was an exec with millions of dollars of bonuses on the line, I could find total fault in a defenseless economy...I guess.
