In celebration of Mistake Management Month, our Quote of the Week is:
By definition, a portal has an “imposing appearance”, which means for most of us, it’s not so easy to hang out at that portal very long, much less go through it. Because who knows what we’ll find? Is there a tunnel or a mine or a bridge or a deep, dark cave? It could be okay but we just don’t know what’s on the other side.
So it’s just a heck of a lot easier and feels a lot safer to ignore it, close it, block it off or even hide it and then – move on.
Many of us say we want to learn from mistakes and that we want those around us to do the same. But few of us really do more than surface learning. And many of them (those around us) quickly learn that the best thing to do with mistakes is cover them up.
Just think of all the places we could go if we felt safe to go through that tunnel.
Just think of the knowledge or resources we might discover in that mine if we felt safe enough to dig in.
Just think of the boost to performance, productivity and morale.
Do you feel safe enough to do it?
Do they?
Tell us what your organization does to make it safe to talk about and learn from mistakes. Do you have awards? Or celebrations? Please tell us about it at: Yes! We celebrate mistakes!
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The above quote is from the Be a Better Manager: Handling Projects, Problems & Mistakes section of our Quote Library. For 152 additional motivational and instructional quotes, visit our Quote Library.
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