Learning from mistakes

To ERR is human…

The other day the filtration motor for our swimming pool stopped working.  I am not mechanical,  the only thing that I can confidently do for the pool is to add water and make sure that the proper chemicals are being used.  If you have a pool, you know that repairs can be fairly costly.  I went to the pool supply store and found that my particular motor would cost just shy of $500 for the new pump.  I also found out that the service charge for the electrician would be nearly $200.  Thinking I could save at least on labor charges, I figured I would do the labor myself.  Only 6 bolts & 3 wires…how hard could it be?  It took me about 1 hour to get the motor off.  (6 bolts & 3 wires) I took the failed motor into the store and was told that my new motor would be ready in a couple of hours.  I was excited – I was going to save the labor costs and also be able to say that I took out the old motor and reconnected the new one.  What an accomplishment for me?  I’m excited, I looked like a mechanic who knew what he was doing.

The motor and mechanisms were put together and the store clerk shows me exactly what I need to do.  Only 6 bolts & 3 wires. Once I got home, I was beaming and shared with my wife what I was about to do. About 3 hours later, I was not a happy camper but finally thought I had it…the electricity was turned back on and I turned the switch to on.  All I got was a humming sound.  Ouch, After a total of 4 hours, a stiff back, bloody hands the motor was not working.  What the heck could I have done wrong? I had to call the repairman who fixed it in about 10 minutes.  His comments…you made a lot of mistakes…I’m thinking, “how could I”  it was only 6 bolts and 3 wires.  It also cost me the extra $179 in labor.

Will I learn from this?  Yes I will.  I need to fess up that I am not a mechanic that I never will be a mechanic and that anything beyond replacing a light bulb is beyond my reach.  In the end, it will save me a lot of cash, aches & pains!

In the business world, great leaders admit to mistakes.  If you are going to be an innovator you will undoubtedly run into missteps. It a certainty like death & taxes.  I will go on record and claim that it is impossible not to make mistakes when you are blazing new trails, pioneering change and revolutionizing former ideas.  Leaders know when they make their gaffes and will quickly look at what can be reaped from the mistake and also avoid it in the future. Hopefully our mistakes will be small and not catastrophic but no matter how large or minute our mistake is, we can learn from it.

To learn from a mistake we need to move on.  Be careful not to dwell in the past but move to the future.  Analyze the situation and make the changes that you and your group feel is necessary to avoid it next time. When you focus on lessons learned from a mistake you are creating and helping to nurture an environment that is open to change.  Fear of failure should not enter or be the core of the team in revolutionizing change. It sets up a culture that helps to reinforce the ability to make mistakes as part of the learning and growing process without retaliation as long as the mistake improves the ultimate process. There is no value in worrying about the mistake or dwelling on it after it is done. So, move on!

It is important to apologize and own up to the mistake.  As in an earlier post, Humility is one of the greatest traits of leadership and a major part of humility is being contrite & apologetic to your organization.  When your people see that you can admit that you are not infallible it often rallies the team to achieve greater return. We all have flaws.  We strive to be perfect, but we can never achieve perfection. We also must learn to be able to accept mistakes from our team. Learn to dig deep and learn from actions instead of beating someone up about a mistake.  This will help to minimize the chance of the mistake happening again.  It also strengthens the relationship and collaboration of your team.

Although we are fostering an environment that is open to mistake, I want to share some things that true leaders can never allow if they want to gain trust and respect.

• 1.      Lack of praise and appreciation for the team.
• 2.      Taking sole credit for anything.
• 3.      Lack of listening to your team.
• 4.      Being negative personally, or about someone else, the team or the company.
• 5.      Inability to accept or adapt to change.
• 6.      Perfection

How my “mechanical ineptness” became the basis for this story shows clearly in my mind some mistakes that I have made in my business career that I will work hard to work on in the future.  This was a fun story and easy to write.  However, I’ll bet that you have ideas mistakes that leaders need to make as far as they build an unstoppable team.  If you do, please leave comments.  Thanks and good selling!