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Tuesday January 10, 2012

Topic: Innovation Management

Reference: Paul Schoemaker. (January 5, 2012). “You need to Make More Mistakes.”Inc.Com. Http://www.inc.com/paul-schoemaker/make-more-mistakes.html

The fear of making mistakes can be debilitating. The fear of mistakes can lead to analysis paralysis which can lead to missed opportunities, failed business plans and the failure to innovate. There is more and more data available, but seemingly less and less information. Increasingly leadership means taking action not with too little information, but sometimes too much. The availability of information does not ensure that mistakes will not happen, but rather that the best decision to be made at the time can in fact made.  Good leaders now know that is all that you have to go on and it is usually a judgment call. All mistakes are not created equally – some mistakes are in fact valuable. The problem is that you can’t be sure which mistakes are the good ones. The key is that the aggressive mindset that causes you to take action and that can lead to mistakes is the difference between being on the positive side of the mistake ledger and staying on the negative side of the ledger. You have to have the mindset to take calculated risks. That means not accepting the status quo and challenging the underlying assumptions related to key decisions. In the referenced article the commentator asserts the same thesis.  “Successful people tend to have a different view about mistakes than most ordinary people. Not only are they more tolerant of them…but they often embrace them.” For example the commentator mentions that Albert Einstein had numerous mistakes in his published works, but still achieved monumental insights in theory. Mistakes led to the creation of post-it notes, different medical treatments, and different payment policies. All have led to positive outcomes. “The only hope to escape from your self-imposed mental box is to test beyond the scope of what you deem worth testing.” I agree with this thought process and a mentality that focuses on learning from your mistakes rather than completely eliminating them. Failing forward and taking aggressive action is required to overcome the challenges that we face in business, government, and in our communities.  It is the place where innovation starts.

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August 22, 2011

Topic: Knowledge Management

Reference: Alan. Norton (August 10, 2011). "10 immutuable laws of mistakes.

"http://techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-immutable-laws-of-mistakes.

In evaluating situations, personnel and deliverables it occurs to me that everyone makes mistakes, but the impact of the mistakes is not uniform. A lot of the impact is situational and depends a great deal on the underlying relationships and facts associated with the mistake. A typo can be deadly in a contract, but irrelevant in a letter. A bad driving direction is not nearly as troublesome as a bad coordinate insailing. However, there are some absolutes as it relates to mistakes. You can't tell someone that they are fired, when they have not been. You can't steal someone else's sale and claim it for your own. Mistakes cannot be intentional. In the referenced article the commentator takes this concept to another level by establishing that there are 10 immutable laws of mistakes. They are as follows: (1) Everyone makes mistakes; (2) Not all mistakes are bad mistakes; (3) Mistakes not seen by others are not mistakes;(4) Ignorance does not excuse your mistakes; (5) Mistakes occur at the very worst time; (6) Mistakes beget mistakes; (7) Mistakes made with computers propagate faster and cause more damage; (8) Mistakes of inaction are mistakes nonetheless; (9) Failing to own up to your mistakes is a mistake; (10) Failing to learnfrom your mistakes is a mistake. This is a very good list and really helps to put mistakes into the right perspective. #9 is particularly true as failing to take responsibility is often worse than the original mistake (see e.g., Michael Vick). "If you can't quickly fix your mistake, hiding it is almost always a bad idea. Finding the humility to admit your error ASAP will allow others to come to your aid." At the very least it will assure that your error does not kill your credibility for future action. People pay more attention to this one than all of the others combined. If you find yourself not owning your mistakes, you will shortly find yourself owning a large amount of distrust. It is that distrust that causes authority to lapse. Now is a good time to start owning your mistakes the same way that you own your successes.