It's all gone pear-shaped

Why pear-shaped? What have pears ever done to us except be juicy and delicious?

Apparently, there are a few theories on how this expression came about. One common one is to do with glass-blowing. Overheating the glass can cause the shape to change while cooling and rather than creating a sphere, the glass becomes pear-shaped.

I have had reason to ponder this recently. What to do when ONE THING you are doing goes pear-shaped?

It is easy to spray blame and criticism around like you are holding a fire hose. And it can be easy to make the target you, as those helpful voices point out your many errors and flaws.

Or you can be compassionate and curious. Figure out what happened and not be eager to jump to blame.

Would it be more useful to give people a way to save face and get themselves out of the pickle - so to speak?

There needs to be accountability and learning but how you carry that out can help people want to try again.

I'd love to hear what you think? Let me know in the comments below while I am eating this scrummy pear.