Mistakes Are Good
I imagine that anyone reading this must be wondering if I’ve finally taken leave of my senses. I haven’t and feel that we can learn from mistakes.
When we’re young, we learn by making mistakes. Watch any child playing a computer game and they will master it far faster, simply because they don’t mind making mistakes to learn how to progress in the game. Their goal is to learn to play better, not to avoid mistakes.
As we grow older and start going to school, society teaches us that “mistakes are bad” and that it’s better to avoid them. In some cases, we can learn not to make mistakes by learning the correct mathematical formula for calculating the answer to something (although we may make mistakes in applying it – that’s why we’re told to “show our workings” in the exam paper).
Mistakes are good because we learn from them. How many times have parents, teachers, relatives or friends quoted “learn from your mistakes” at us? A mistake is often the best way to reinforce why we do, or don’t do, something in a particular way. We remember the embarrassment, pain (perhaps) and/or financial cost of a mistake and we learn not to repeat it. We can say to a child “Don't put your hand on the hot stove, it’ll hurt you.” It’s only when they see (or feel) this for themselves that they learn that it’s a mistake to touch a hot stove with one’s bare hand. Knowledge, as Hyrum Smith said, is one thing, but wisdom is knowledge correctly applied.
The first step is to analyse what the mistake was; the next, what caused it to happen. Next, we ask ourselves whether anything could have been done to avoid it (or can be done in the future). Finally, we put in place the processes, rules, training or equipment to make sure the chances of a recurrence are minimised, if not eliminated.
I used to do a lot of acting. I found that the Dress Rehearsal, where we went through the entire performance with lights, sound, and all the people and support crew involved, showed us where mistakes could be made so that we could learn from them and fix them before our first public performance.
Yes, it’s bad if we make the same mistake again and again. Making it once is forgivable. Sometimes, though, we have to fail short-term to succeed long-term.
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 websiteprovides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Career, Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 10:52
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home