The project was running late and the section manager thought that it was time for a pep talk with his staff. He realized that he was considered to be somewhat autocratic by his staff, but this time he thought that he would impress on them that he was really one of the members of the team and that they would work together as one in order to succeed.

The section manager thought he made quite a good speech. He pointed out that the project was running late and that, if they failed, the customer could cancel the contract. He explained further that, as manager, he was responsible for the success of the project, and so everyone would be equally to blame for the failure of the project.

Unexpectedly, a group of staff came in to see him a few days later to clarify whether they were all under threat of unemployment, should it turn out in the future that they were indeed late and the contract was canceled by the customer.

What went wrong? What would you have done differently?