To err is human

Last week I mentioned the power of Action steps.

One of the big impediments is the fear of messing up. There are two types of mistakes

1) Doing something that we have done regularly. And this is usually caused by not paying attention.

2) Doing something that we have not really done before. These errors come as part of the learning process.

Of course we want to avoid the first type of mistake. But I want you to seek out the second. We should always be trying something a little new and different to improve. Which means we should always be finding little mistakes to improve on. A new idea that has a mistake may be our best opportunity for learning and finding that next level of excellence. So it is key to seek these moments out.

In order to do this you must pay attention and have a keen eye to which type of errors you are seeing. Most of instinctively know the difference but we do not categorize them differently. A mistake is a mistake. This fear is one of the biggest road blocks you can run into in any situation. There are mistakes to be avoided and those that we should embrace.

Let’s look at these two types of mistakes as two separate functions. The first type of error (of a regular task that comes … #1 above) should be avoided and minimized. The second type of error (from trying something new …#2 above) should not only not be minimized; they should be sought out. Because there is learning there and something good going on. Something you learn, something you can build on and something you can share. Looking at it that way I am sure you will agree that it is not even right to think of it as a mistake anymore.

We all know that everything we try will not work – but make sure that we classify our mistakes correctly because one is a good thing. If it has been a while since you have had a mistake go seek one out. Just make sure it is the right kind of mistake. Then you will be onto something.