Make One Mistake and Youll Have to Do It All Over Again!
10 MIN READ
How to Larn From Your Mistakes
... And Put Those Lessons Into Do
"A smart man makes a error, learns from it, and never makes that fault once again." – Roy H. Williams (1958-), U.Southward. author and marketing skillful.
Think back to the last fault that y'all made at work. Even if it was a pocket-sized one, like spilling coffee on a certificate seconds before you lot were due to present it, yous'll likely have felt a rush of panic and and so had the inconvenience of putting things right.
No one is immune to making mistakes – we are human, afterward all! But if we simply apologize and carry on as before, we're in danger of repeating the same errors.
When we don't learn from our mistakes, nosotros inflict unnecessary stress on ourselves and on others, and we hazard losing people's confidence and trust in us. In this commodity, nosotros await at how to ensure that we take those lessons on board, and then use what we learn.
Encounter the transcript for this video here.
How to End Repeating Mistakes
Here are v steps to help you to learn from your mistakes, and to put what you discover into practice.
Note:
"Making a error" is non the same thing equally "failing." A failure is the outcome of a incorrect action, whereas a mistake usually is the wrong action. So, when you brand a mistake, yous tin learn from it and set information technology, whereas you can only learn from a failure.
ane. Own Your Mistakes
You can't larn anything from a mistake until you admit that you've made it. So, take a deep breath and admit to yours, and then take buying of it. Inform those who demand to know, apologize, and tell them that you lot're working on a solution.
Saying "lamentable" takes backbone, but it's far ameliorate to come clean than to hide your error or, worse, to blame others for information technology. In the long run, people will remember your backbone and integrity long afterwards they've forgotten the original mistake.
If, however, they hear of it from another source, your reputation will suffer and you may non get another opportunity to learn.
2. Reframe the Error
How yous view your mistakes determines the way that you react to them, and what you do adjacent.
Chances are, y'all'll view your fault in a purely negative light for equally long every bit any initial stupor and discomfort almost it persists. But, if you can reframe your mistake every bit an opportunity to learn, you will motivate yourself to become more than knowledgeable and resilient.
When you've acknowledged your mistake, think about what you could do to prevent it from happening again. For example, if you didn't follow a process properly, consider introducing a more robust checklist or a clearer process document.
Stop beating yourself up, pause for a moment to reflect, and beginning thinking about how you can gain from the situation.
Tip:
Your mindset plays a significant office in how you view your mistakes and, importantly, in how you react to them.
If you have a "growth" mindset, you likely see mistakes as an opportunity to improve, and not as something that you lot are doomed to echo because your mindset is "fixed" on the belief that you can't improve.
You can find out how to develop a growth mindset with our commodity, Dweck's Fixed and Growth Mindsets.
Notation:
A learning opportunity is non the same equally an excuse for careless beliefs!
Rather, admitting to your mistakes and showing that you take learned from them can help others to empathise that making mistakes is OK. That is, every bit long every bit you act intelligently, in good faith, and keep your risk-taking inside agreed boundaries.
Model this approach to encourage your people to take responsible risks, and to be more creative.
three. Clarify Your Fault
Side by side, you need to clarify your mistake honestly and considerately. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What was I trying to practice?
- What went wrong?
- When did it become incorrect?
- Why did it become wrong?
Our article, 5 Whys, describes a straightforward yet powerful tool for identifying the causes of uncomplicated or moderately difficult problems. To use it, start with the mistake and keep asking "Why?" until you get to the root cause.
For complex or more than critical issues, a more in-depth tool, such as Causal Factor Charting, may exist more appropriate.
Conducting this "postmortem" should reveal what led to the fault, and highlight what needs to modify in order to avoid a repeat.
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4. Put Lessons Learned Into Do
The danger at this stage is that work pressures force you lot back to your routine tasks and habitual behaviors. The lessons that you identified in Stride iii could languish, unfulfilled, as mere good intentions. In other words, learning lessons is one thing, but putting them into practise is quite another!
Chances are, acting on what you lot've learned will require the discipline and motivation to modify your habits, or to modify the manner that your team works. Doing so will assist you to avoid self-sabotage in the future, and volition allow you to reap the rewards and benefits of implementing better work practices.
Here, you lot need to identify the skills, knowledge, resources, or tools that volition keep you from repeating the error.
Do so with care, though, because "quick fixes" will likely lead to further mistakes. Any actions that you accept to implement your learning need to be indelible, and something that you tin can commit to.
If your mistake was a pocket-sized or a personal ane, personal goals and action plans will lay the groundwork for implementing the lessons you've learned. They can requite you lot a timescale to work to, and a list of the tasks that you'll need to consummate.
The specific tools that you lot use from there on will depend on the particular lessons that you demand to put into practice.
For example, if you learned that a mistake occurred because of your forgetfulness, aides-mémoire or greater attending to particular could help. If yous found that your organizational skills were beneath par, digital planners and spreadsheets would exist useful.
Or, if you discovered that an error occurred because of a cross-cultural misunderstanding, your communication skills might need a shine.
If the mistake was more organizational than personal, you may demand to implement your learning in a more far-reaching way. Writing clearer procedures, for example, could help to ensure that more gets done without mistakes.
Understanding Zenger and Folkman's 10 Fatal Leadership Flaws could aid to tackle errors from the superlative. In fact, not learning from mistakes is 1 of the 10 flaws, and providing clear and specific feedback is 1 way to counter this flaw.
And, if y'all learned that your new product wasn't distinctive enough to be successful, you may need to revisit your whole strategy.
Tip 1:
Learning from mistakes, and putting that learning into practise, involves modify. If that alter will touch other people, the ADKAR Modify Management Model could help you to become them "on lath" – and to keep them there.
Tip 2:
Don't be agape to enquire colleagues or your manager for help if you lot're unsure which tactic or tool will exist the most effective in preventing further mistakes.
Involving other people is a not bad fashion to make them feel invested – and it can be specially of import when mistakes are made at a team or organizational level. So, foster an environment where people feel comfortable about expressing their ideas.
5: Review Your Progress
Yous may have to try out several means to put your learning into practice before y'all find one that successfully prevents you from repeating by errors. The Plan-Do-Check-Human activity cycle is a great tool for pinpointing the nigh effective solutions.
From there, monitor the efficacy of your chosen tactic by reviewing the number and nature of mistakes that do – or don't! – still go made. Request someone to hold you lot accountable can help you to stay committed to your new course of action.
Key Points
To err is human, and nosotros don't have to punish ourselves for the mistakes that we make. They can exist great opportunities to larn, and to develop on a personal, as well as an organizational, level. We only need to learn from them, and to put that learning into exercise.
When you, or one of your team members, brand a mistake:
- Own upwards to it. Don't play the "blame game." This is detrimental in the long run, and you'll lose the potential for learning.
- Reframe your fault as an opportunity to larn and develop.
- Review what went incorrect, to understand and acquire from your error.
- Identify the skills, noesis, resources, or tools that will keep you from repeating the fault.
- Review your progress.
Source: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/learn-from-mistakes.htm
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