Learning Through Mistakes
I’ve come to realise that you can’t develop leaders and good decision-making without also allowing people to make mistakes and (preferably) learn from them!
The best way to learn is to make mistakes. None of us remember learning to walk but if you ever watch an infant learning, you’ll notice that they’ll keep falling over and picking themselves up until they “get it right”.
Whilst it may be dangerous (financially and – or for health and safety reasons) to allow people to fail too often, learning from one’s mistakes provides the best experience for the next generation of leaders. As that famous philosopher “someone “said, “Good decisions are the result of experience. Experience is the result of poor decisions.”
The skill of the leader who’s bringing up the next generation is to know when they can be allowed to fail (without provoking disastrous consequences) and when to give them closer guidance. What many notice is that, in the beginning, a fair degree of “hands on” instruction and guidance is necessary, but as the “apprentice” gains in experience, confidence and commitment to the organisation and shows they are capable of either thinking things through or, at least, knowing when to ask for help or advice then one can slowly “let go the reins”.
Not only will this develop a capable generation of leaders, but it also allows their leaders to spend time on other important tasks, adding value to the organisation. The culture of the “blame game” where aspiring leaders are allowed to fall flat on their proverbial face is neither building nor likely to develop leaders. Indeed, it will only serve to develop a generation of risk avoiders who when faced with a crisis, either “pass the buck” or are likely to lead the organisation to disaster.
I have seen the results described above in a number of cases. All decisions as a result are referred “up the line””.
Scientific studies have shown that humans are mentally conditioned to avoid action that could result in a loss, more so than to take a risk that may result in a substantial gain to them or their organisation. This is probably due to our old “survival instinct” from man’s early days. Whilst it may still be applicable in certain situations, it doesn’t apply to all.
We’ll never eliminate risk entirely unless we refuse to take any action with any degree of risk. We can however coach the next generation of leaders to think for themselves in such a way that they examine a situation critically, consult with others and take the most well-considered and informed choice available to them based on experience.
How is your organisation set up for this?
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience 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.
Labels: Career, Leadership, Risk, Teamwork
Communication and Customer Service
One of my recent experiences showed me how crucial good and clear communication can be in providing quality customer service.
As the world “goes global”, we find ourselves dealing with call centres outside our own country, with people whose first language may not be our first language, all combined with the bureaucracy that’s part and parcel of large organisations (particularly financial services) in today’s world.
I finally realised something was wrong when email communication with the particular individual resulted in exactly the same email with exactly the same wording coming back to me every time that I thought I had explained and clarified something. Finally, I called the company’s Customer Service Hotline and was able to clarify exactly what the individual was trying to tell me.
Not only did this show me how vital clear communication is in providing service to others, but it also showed me that it will continue to be a problem that we need to understand and to deal with. Despite the best intentions of “the other person”, misunderstandings can and will occur.
The trick is being able to resolve the situation quickly. It did take me a while to realise something was very wrong with the communication between me and “the other guy”. Once I worked it out, I was able to devise a solution and achieve the expected result.
Some may say, “Surely it was up to the company and the company representative to devise the solution for you the customer?” In answer: yes, one could take that attitude but then would it actually, move me further towards the goal I had set myself or would it simply turn into a game of “saving face”?
How can we as “Customer Service” businesses ensure that our communication is as clear as possible and, at the same time, devise processes where there is clearly an issue?
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience 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.
Labels: Customer Care, Risk
A First Attempt in Learning!
One of the more useful (but frustrating!) learning experiences I’ve had was dealing with someone who just set up their own business producing “environmentally friendly” business cards.
His product was simple: take a company’s business card, transfer it to a credit card-size piece of plastic and embed a chip that held all the details of the business card. Along with this, a QR code was printed on the card which took you to a site giving you the same business card information. Even better, with certain brands of smart phone, just touching the card to the smart phone automatically transferred all business card information onto the smartphone and the user could then save it as a new contact. Brilliant idea. Environmentally friendly. Practical.
The downside was that, whilst the concept was sound, execution was flawed. After three months of working with this business trying to produce a professional card, we finally gave up. It’s not something that comes naturally or easily to businesspeople. The problem was that we could see no end in sight; there was always something wrong in the dummy copies produced. What’s more, we were asked to pay for the cards before they were delivered so we would pay and then receive a card that wasn’t fit for purpose.
Sometime ago, I wrote about knowing when to hold, fold, or walk away. In this instance we decided to walk away. We sent what we considered was a polite message thanking the business for their efforts and making a goodwill payment for the work they had done. The amount of work we had put in designing, proofreading several erroneous print runs and explaining what a business card was used for was far higher than the value of the card.
The other business’ reaction? Not prepared to accept any accountability for their errors. Instead, we got a catalogue of excuses, including the well-worn “No one else has had a problem with this.” Maybe no one had had a problem with this before, but there’s always a first time for everything.
This is a project we’d still like to pursue with the right partner. One day even the business that we walked away from may have perfected its operating model, in which case great. We’d far rather support a growing local small business than deal with a large, faceless corporate entity. The trouble is, they need to have a sound business operating model.
This was also a great learning opportunity for us. We learned the importance of explaining our particular branding, the message behind it and to be able to design artwork suitable for transferring onto a medium other than paper. Yes, we lost a bit of money, but we learnt far more from our mistakes and assumptions and the consequences that arose. We’ll know better how to proceed the next time.
In the meantime, we’ll still have to use “paper” business cards.
Just because something ends in failure or we have to walk away, it can still be a lesson. The trick is to learn from that experience, and not repeat the same mistake. In this case, neither of us were ready for the other.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience 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.
Labels: Customer Care, Selling, Teamwork
