Business contains only 3 things: People, Process, & Situations. 

When it comes to forecasting people's behaviour, place your bet on Situations over People. [We learned this from Mark Weber] Another way of looking at it...When it comes to commenting on people's behaviour, place your blame on Situations not on People.

• Learn how to observe better - make that a life-long goal. 
• Learn how to observe people better, with a view to understanding them better - as Stephen Covey taught, Seek First to Understand.
• Learn how to observe situations better, with a view to identifying patterns in real-time and knowing the consequences of those patterns in real-time.
• Learn how to anticipate Situations - that is key to leadership and success.
• Do not set the bar so high people will fail to hurdle it...recognize you and most other people would likely act the same way in the same situation.
• Do not back people into corners. For example, do not ask questions that any reasonable person might answer with a lie maybe a little white lie but nonetheless a lie.
• Do not criticize others: know from personal experience, constructive criticism is an oxymoron.

When it comes to discovering why things are not working, place your attention on People before Process.

• Processes cannot talk on their own behalf. Processes do not explain themselves to People.  Processes rely on People to talk to People.
• People-memory is prone to fail. Remember, People are prone to misremember. So, you must help your people improve memory & recall. To do this - get attention, generate interest, tell stories, provide real-life and relevant examples, strive to make your messages stick. 
• Provide tools to help strengthen the bond between People and Process. Customize your tools so they fit both your People and your Process. Checklists are terrific tools. 1-Page Tools are terrific tools.