This week’s Quick List* is written in support and celebration of Mistake Management Month.
Is your organization getting the most from the mistake it makes? Here is an exercise that will help you do so…and build morale and productivity in the process.
Read through the situations below. What would you do? Would those on your team handle it the same way? Would they have the same approach? Would they be guided by the same philosophy?
There is no one right answer, however in each situation there is opportunity. Masters of Mistake Management search deep and wide for the opportunity(ies) in every mistake. Are you getting the most from yours?
Choose one or two of the situations below to discuss at a staff meeting. Using these will give you the opportunity to discuss mistake management from a bit of a distance…without the understandable defensive walls that often go up when dealing with “their” mistakes. Stir up a good discussion. Encourage lots of ideas for how to handle. If they don’t bring it up, ask them how they think the customer feels.
If they seem a bit locked up with their ideas, ask them to solved this week’s brainteaser: Brainteaser of the Week #46.
And pop this quote up on the screen: Quote of the Week: On Mistakes & Discovery.
If the discussion is focused more on establishing blame rather than discovering solutions, pop this quote up on the screen: Quote of the Week: It’s Not Our Fault.
And then – like I said – there is no one right answer, but where possible, I have provided links so you can see what actually happened.
1. Cathy went to the cleaners and there were orange blobs all over her blouse? The cashier took no responsibility. She blamed everything from the fabric to the chemicals to government corruption. If you owned the cleaners, what would you do about it?
2. The names of three university graduates were left out of the graduation program. When they went to pick up their diplomas afterwards, there were none. A computer glitch had caused the problem. The students had actually graduated. And there diplomas would be available for pick up soon. If you were in charge of the university, what would you do about this?
3. We printed a big job and put it on a truck ahead of schedule and alerted Mack (our client) that it was on its way – tentatively scheduled to arrive in three days. It didn’t. Mack threatened to cancel his contract if the shipment was not there in 24 hours. What if this was your project, you hired the shipping company but had no direct control over them and they seemed to be giving you the run around about the whereabouts of the truck? You could say” it’s not my fault…and besides…the delivery isn’t late (yet”). What would you do?
4. An attorney was hired to write a contract and understood that the client’s budget could cover up to 4 hours of his work. When they sat down to review the final product, he informed her that they were getting close to the 4 hour limit. The meeting took 30 minutes. When the invoice came, it was for 8 hours. When she called to inquire, the attorney said he used a software system to track his hours and that it “didn’t lie”. She asked about his earlier statement (about getting close to 4 hours) and he said he must have been mistaken. If you were the attorney, how would you have handled this? What would you do if you were the client?
5. John pulled up to a house to deliver a Domino’s pizza. He was 30 minutes late because of kitchen problems and because of a traffic jam. He went to the door and rang the door bell. If you were the one ringing the door bell, what would you do?
6. We printed a job for a customer and she called to tell us that the Table of Contents was incorrect. She had given us all the information camera ready so it certainly wasn’t our fault. But she was embarrassed, felt it would be confusing for her colleagues and hoped we could help her. What would you do if you were in our shoes?
7. To save money for convention travel, we chartered a bus to drive 45 participants from Chicago to Chapel Hill instead of buying plane tickets through our regular travel agent. When the bus didn’t show up in Chicago as planned, we called on the travel agent for a rescue. It was Saturday night, he was in the middle of a dinner party and the internet hadn’t been invented yet. What would you do if you were in his shoes?
8. We printed a job for a customer and he called to tell us the pages are out of order. We had copies of the same publication and the pages were in the right order. So it must have been a bindery slip up on a few books. But the customer was nervous. What if it was on more than just a few? He was thinking we should do a total reprint. If you were in this situation, what would you do?
9. A customer was making layaway payments for a special bike to give her husband for a surprise Valentine’s Day gift. An employee at the bike shop was supposed to display it in the store window on Valentine’s Day so the customer could stroll by and see it with her husband before their romantic dinner. They strolled by. The bike wasn’t there. The employee had forgotten. If you were in charge of the bike shop, what would you do?
10. Two employees make a gross video while preparing food in one of your restaurants, post it on Youtube and it goes viral. How would you handle it?
I hope this is good food for thought and discussion. I’d love to hear your ideas for how to handle these situations. As mentioned above, there is no one right way to handle these but if you want to see what actually happened, see links below.
Jan is a coach, teacher, speaker and author who is passionate about performance management and corporate culture.
Her coaching specialty is working with women in leadership to take charge more effectively, make things happen and inspire others to do the same.
Find out how to get a free consult here Subscribe to Business Class E-Zine More about Jan
Links for more info:
- Cathy and the cleaners – Whose Fault Was It?
- Graduates names left out of the program – Making Things Right at UNC
- Mack & the truck – Beat the Heat – A Lesson Learned in Mississippi
- The attorney did not change the invoice. The client hasn’t needed an attorney since but when she does, she will regrettably look for a different attorney.
- The Domino’s pizza delivery – Beat the Heat – A Lesson from Domino’s
- Incorrect Table of Contents – see second story in It’s Not Our Fault
- Travel agent – Hooray for Viking Travel
- Pages out of order – see first story in It’s Not Our Fault
- Bicycle shop – Hooray for Zane’s Cycles
- Gross video – more coming on this next week
More Articles on Mistake Management:
- Quote of the Week: It’s Not Our Fault
- 10 “Mistakes” to Maximize
- Hooray for Viking Travel
- Hooray for Zane’s Cycles
- Brainteaser of the Week #46
*Note: 10 by 10 on Tuesday (also know as a Quick List) is a weekly feature is for managers who don’t have time or don’t want to make time to read lengthy articles or even short paragraphs. Here you will find 10 tips or questions or steps or ways to Get 2 Goal or Be a Better Manager, etc). And it will be posted by 10 (AM – EST) on Tuesdays. Here’s our collection of Quick Lists to date.
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