How to Be More Objective: From Blaming to Accountability in 3 Steps

What started out as a joke has evolved into what I believe is a practical method for addressing micro-conflicts in the workplace.

After asking myself, “How can I be more objective?” I jokingly replied, “By objecting, of course!”

The original idea was formed in November 2017 and called Object123. The premise was deliberately simple: if someone experiences objectionable behavior, they should be able to object, in three phases, as needed, directly, in real-time and in a structured way. The goal was not to win arguments or assign moral fault, but to interrupt unproductive dynamics while they are still live and correctable.

That evolution eventually led to SpatzAI in May 2022. SpatzAI introduces a shared, agreed procedure for escalating concerns through three proportional steps:

Caution, Objection, and Stop. Each step is anchored to observable behaviour, not personality, intent, or character.

• 0. A mild verbal CAUTION
• 1. A formal CAUTION – SpatChat app
• 2. A formal OBJECTION – SpatzChat app
• 3. A formal STOP and Review – SpatzChat app and Spatz Team + AI Review platform
  * Yet to be field tested

This is where SpatzAI departs from traditional blaming and complaining. Complaining usually happens after the fact and indirectly tends to result in a “blame game”. The behavior is no longer actionable, so the focus shifts to interpretation and attribution: ie. what one says about the person, their motives, or their competence. Because nothing can now be corrected in real-time, the only remaining move is blame.

Objecting works differently. It happens in the moment and directly. The objector is not saying “you are the problem”, but “this specific thing just happened and it crossed a line for me”. Responsibility is attached to behaviour, not identity. That places the interaction in the domain of accountability rather than moral judgment.

The core insight has remained consistent from Object123 to SpatzAI: objectivity does not come from pretending to be neutral or suppressing disagreement. It comes from having a fair mechanism that allows team members to object to objectionable behaviour as it occurs, within a shared rule set.

In that sense, “How to be more objective? By objecting.” is no longer a joke. It is a design principle for turning blame into behavioral accountability, and complaints into real-time course correction.