Own Your Mistakes

Everyone screws up. Dad said, “The only people who don’t make mistakes, don’t do anything.” Dad was right.

The natural reaction when you make a mistake is to deny it, keep quiet, or make excuses. All 3 are strong temptations. Don’t.

Made an error on instructions I wrote when a new engineer. The number was not clear enough for the machinist to read easy. The gentleman who brought it up to show me was expecting a fight. He had reasons lined up why I had to change it. 

My response when he showed me my error, “You’re right. I’ll fix it.” He was off balance by that response. Started to explain why, and then paused thinking about what I said. My follow up was, “Will do it right now. Is there anything else?”

Reason to own your mistakes, you will learn. Denial takes energy that can be used to learn. Was able to fix my mistake in a few minutes and get back to other work.

Even if something is not your fault, there may be a lesson you can learn in it. Communicating better. Understanding customers. Even not to use that company’s product or service again. Find value.

 Your boss starts talking with you about your performance. You are surprised it is not good enough. Not time to freak out, but time to ask questions. Could you show me what you expected? Do you have a sample what you are looking for? Who does this well? Let me go talk to him to see what they are doing right?

In short you are making a plan to improve your performance. Then set up follow up meeting. Set a time in one or two weeks to review your actions and ask for more feedback. Then thank them for telling you. (They have given you an opportunity to improve)

Answering difficult feedback with questions and maturity are not natural reactions, but can raise your value to your company. Learning often is followed by more opportunities and responsibilities.