I agree with you thoroughly. However, there is one additional point. Virtually every time I have been faced with the management attitude that this article characterizes, the work environment has been the type where blame assignment is more important than problem solving. Such environments are always "filled with excuses" because the lower level employees find the "excuses" to be one of their few workplace survival techniques.

Perhaps the writer and those managers who agree with him need to examine their respective work environments and management styles. I'd be willing to bet that more than half of them need both a reality check and some interpersonal behavioral training. Let's try encouraging our employees and leading by example rather than using the management excuse of pointing the finger down the line.