Does Mistake Free = Risk Free?

Can mistakes be a good thing? Well, I hope so, because I don’t know anyone that doesn’t make mistakes - and who would want to be around anyone that doesn’t? An old baseball adage says “no one bats a thousand, but you will miss 100% of the pitches you don’t swing at.” I believe this is just as applicable in business, in school, pretty much in life.  There is little reward without risk and all innovation requires exploring the unknown - that’s taking a risk.

I teach a course in Research Methods.  When we talk about Experimental research, I explain that this requires we start with a hypothesis (our best guess) of what the outcome will be.  It is often very difficult for students to accept that it is OK for the researcher to prove themselves wrong, that this is a valid outcome. No one likes to be wrong, or to spend resources on a path of discovery that leads to a dead end, but at the end of the trek, we do know what is NOT the “right” answer.  We can then definitively set that outcome aside and move on to the next most likely hypothesis. That is part of the scientific method, making and accepting mistakes, learning from them, and moving forward.  It really is about the learning.

There are some theories of learning which say we only learn from our mistakes. That gives me some comfort. There is recent work by Kornell, Richland and Kao which indicates that kids learn material much faster when they screw-up first. In other words, getting the wrong answer helps us remember the right one.  I believe it and I think the same is true of adults.  We, however, are much less willing to take the risk of making an error, getting it wrong or embarrassing ourselves in front of someone else. Grown ups so often just can’t color outside the lines.  We’ve been chastised, penalized and ostracized for incorrect answers, taking the long way around, or coloring the horses purple.  Many of our parents, predecessors and/or supervisors have squelched any hope of creativity or risk-taking right out of our toolbox (and toy box). I think it’s time we learn to manage mistakes rather than believing we can make them disappear

Here are some thoughts from the Workplace Training Center on risk taking and mistakes, one process for better managing an error, in order to encourage our employees to be more innovative creative risk-takers in the hopes of reaping bigger rewards.

“If you overreact to every little mistake, you will discourage your people from taking risks. If they don’t take risks, creativity will stall. Prove to your staff that you are accepting of errors—within reason—and then show them how they can learn from every mistake. When someone errs at work, follow this process:

•    Maintain your cool. If you start yelling or throwing out insults, your employee will become defensive or tune you out. Stay calm and remain respectful. If you are truly outraged, take some time to calm down before you address the problem.

•    Point out the error to the employee. Do it as soon as you are aware of the problem. Don’t put it off; it’s better to discuss the issue when the actions that led to the mistake are still fresh in the employee’s mind.

•    Offer the person a chance to give his or her viewpoint. The person may not have had the correct information or might offer some other justifiable reason. Don’t immediately assume that carelessness or spitefulness is to blame.

•    Together discuss how to correct the mistake. You may need to show the employee how to do something correctly, or the two of you may need to come up with a damage-control plan. Don’t just tell the person what to do. Involve him or her in coming up with a solution and implementing it. That is critical to making it a learning opportunity and not a reprimand.

•    Clarify your expectations. Before you leave, confirm that the person understands what needs to happen next time. Just avoid the “this better not happen again” shtick that many bosses employ.

•    Sum up what you learned. Simply ask the employee “So what did we learn from this?” Then you might say “I learned that you are committed to your job because of how determined you were to find a solution to that problem.”

•    Thank the employee. Don’t end the discussion without first telling the person that you are grateful that he or she remained professional and solution-focused during the meeting, rather than offering excuses or pointing fingers.”

OK, making dumb mistakes, repeating errors that should have been corrected, or accepting screw-ups out of an “I don’t care” attitude is not what we’re talking about.  Honest mistakes borne of thinking “outside of the box” or taking a calculated risk, are the kinds of mistakes that become valuable learning opportunities which may catapult your business forward. At the very least, we can learn what not to do again.

In choral music rehearsal, singers are encouraged to sing their parts loud and proud - “if you’re going to make a mistake, make it a good one.”  This allows any errors to be surfaced, to burst through the complex musical harmonies like a bell, instead of continuing to be an irritatingly low volume muddle of something that’s just not right. I hope you let your employees sing out - even if there are a few wrong notes - so that you have the chance to manage mistakes positively, and end up with a great performance.

This entry was posted on January 29, 2012 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.