Sensitivity 101 ?

In a world where people are continually told that they need to be more polite or sensitive to the feelings of others, how do we get anything done ???

Recently I replied to what I perceived as a "critical and past oriented" email string by saying "that we can either continue doing he said /she said and becoming angry, or we could start looking forward and begin solving the problems." I then proceeded to describe some positive proactive forward looking actions that should be taken to prevent past problems from being repeated.

My honest and pragmatic attempt to shift the group from picking apart the past and certain individuals, to focusing on the future caused quite an uproar. Apparently I was too abrupt for the people involved, and heard about it... One recipient accused me of violating values I truly believe, causing a disaster and the whole hurrah... (ie felt like I was run over by a train) Since I was not intending to hurt people's feeling, I have apologized profusely. Yet the negative feedback and emotion seemed like overkill.

So what do you think after 145 posts, should I learn to be more sensitive? If I do, what topics are "safe" to raise ? Then how do we move forward ? Are people getting too sensitive ? If so, how can schools, companies, governments, etc resolve thorny problems? Or do we just agree until the wheels fall off, for fear of someone perceiving our voiced concern as showing a lack of respect?

Thoughts are always welcome....