Falling back to leap forward

Last week we talked about making errors. There is second part to the equation. If we say the right kind of mistakes (and most importantly recognizing all kinds of mistakes) is not a bad thing but can be good then there is a second question that we must ask ourselves which is “what next?”.

Acknowledging that mistakes can be good is important for two reasons:

1) They are going to happen so it is better to recognize and accept that and look for the positive.
2) You can plan for how to recover from mistakes once you have allowed for the reality that they will happen.

And that second point is a key point for world class execution. Why do we practice how to handle an upset customer? We know it will happen so we need a recovery system. Be aware enough to spot a mistake is great; the next step is to try to think through how to respond as quickly as possible. Is there a mistake that you see could happen that you may not be ready for? Whether it is an issue with utilities (think flooding), power outages or good old fashioned equipment issues there are many things that can happen. The more we are ready to respond the higher our performance will be.

While perfection is an ideal goal if our whole operating mindset is based on us being perfect we will be flawed. Because things do go wrong so we must see it, own that it happens and jump on solving these issues. And the more thought we have into these responses before the better. Think about areas where your people can and should be ready to recover and see how you can help them execute this recovery the best way possible.

Flawless execution includes the possibility (and inevitability) or errors but also allows us, and should force us, to plan for these moments and practice our recovery and response. That is one of the keys to excellence and something we should embrace. So it’s OK for us to recognize we will fall back as long as we use it as a chance to plan to leap forward.