Mistakes: A Learning Process

Make it okay to make mistakes.  During team meetings.

Most people who have worked in organizations for a while come to accept as truth that it is wrong to make mistakes.  They may hesitate to try new tasks, suggest a new idea, or offer an opinion when they are not sure of the outcome of doing something risky.  While this kind of behaviour makes us all feel safe and comfortable, it in fact has a negative effect on the long-term health of the business.  It results in decisions being made without all the pros and cons on the table, suggestions for better processes never coming up, and new ideas being agreed to based on who supports them rather than their merit.  The resultant chaos is compounded when organizations merge or are acquired.

As organizations choose to move forward, they realize that teams are an integral element of world-class management.  The team can (and should) make every effort to change the “wrong to make mistakes” kind of thinking. Here are some suggestions for team members faced with this situation:

• Plan to initiate a discussion in a team meeting about this topic. Cite some recent examples of times when others held back potentially helpful ideas or did not state their true feelings (using yourself in the examples is a good idea) as decisions are made.  Discuss how this ultimately affects the performance of the team
• Make an agreement amongst yourselves to change your own attitudes so that making mistakes is seen as not only acceptable, but a critical part of the learning process for the team. Add this agreement to your guidelines.
• Discuss what reactions and consequences typically occur when mistakes are made now. Then define how you will react to mistakes in the future
• Acknowledge that changing perceptions is difficult and takes time. Recognize that you will often need to remind and reinforce each other.

There are some lessons learned while facilitating teams at Citibank, Jet Airways, Taj Palace Hotel and Aga Khan University Hospital. These lessons from the service sector can be easily absorbed by manufacturing organizations, reflecting a reverse in learning.