We All Make Mistakes
We all make mistakes -
but that's an excuse for making them. When people pay you to do something, they
expect you to get it right.
We’re all human, but that's no reason not to do our best,
check what we’ve done, keep our promises, arrive punctually and so on.
Common causes of mistakes are:
- No/insufficient training
- No/unclear instructions
- Failure to check
- Failure to follow up
- Not turning up on time
What these all have in common is that they are under our control. We can train people, check they understood
our instructions, check work done, keep our promises and arrive on time for meetings
so we’re ready to start on time.
So why don't we? In
reality because it’s…
- “Too expensive” (in the case of training).
- “Too much work” because we’re under pressure to “get things done) or because we need to catch our breath.
- “We got caught up by…”
- “Not that important anyway”/”Just not worth the extra effort”…
In some cases, not training people sufficiently above may
only result in delays. In others, it may
result in loss of business, reputation or even of life.
I’ve caught myself using all the above. They’re excuses,
not reasons. An excuse is when we abdicate responsibility
for something, finding a convenient “3rd party” to blame it on (“You
didn't remind me”, “I didn’t understand”, “You didn’t make it clear that…”, “He
didn't say that…”). These all attempt to
shift the burden of accountability for getting something done to outside causes
theoretically beyond our control. Taking
accountability is harder (“I forgot”, “I failed to check my understanding”, “I
didn't clarify”, “I didn’t ask/check”…)
Taking responsibility for our actions is harder in a
corporate world where mistakes can cost you your bonus, promotion or job.
We all make mistakes, and we’ll never be able to stop this. What we can
do is ensure that we give our very best and that, if we do make a mistake, we
sort it out as quickly as possible and learn
from it.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Career, Customer Care, Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 07:55
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