I lived in Toronto for 10 years. My home was just around the corner, half a block from the area on Yonge Street where dozens of people were run down this week and ten people lost their lives. Many adjectives are used, tragic, sad, and unfathomable – none adequately capture the true heartbreak of so many.

I have been reading in the media the information about the events and the young man who was behind the wheel of the rented white van. I have seen speculation assigning blame - everything from terrorism, immigration policy failures, angry men and the incel movement, poor parenting, mental illness and more.

I began wondering what Joe/Jill Public would decide is blameworthy for some of my life decisions. This thought made me acknowledge that human beings are complex, and it is highly unlikely that one factor led this man to his actions. It also highlighted to me that searching for blame in the immediate aftermath of an incident like this is the opposite of helpful – it doesn’t help the injured or the grieving. It does, however, help the individuals and organizations in the world who want us to be polarized and to hate and fear.

With my head firmly into project management these days the idea of this complex situation requiring the completion of an Ishikawa diagram/root cause analysis to try and capture the multitude of factors that played into that fateful day. It is clear that this work is best left to the professionals and not J. Public. I think we should all be more mindful of our words and actions so that we do not contribute to a world that is increasingly polarized and fractured.