Let people make their own mistakes

What’s a mistake you made at work? How did it feel? How important was it? Will you ever forget it? Probably not.

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing”

- George Bernard Shaw

A few years ago I was becoming impatient with the mistakes we were making at work, and I wasn’t handling it well.

Prior to working at the company, I had owned a business - I was used to getting involved in everything, and knowing what was going on.

Truthfully, I was struggling with the transition from entrepreneur to employee, and it was showing up as frustration.

I ended up learning that working with a larger team would allow me to do the best work in my career - but I was still months away from learning that lesson.

Can I trust people to do their job?

What’s a mistake you made at work? How did it feel? How important was that lesson? Will you ever forget it? Probably not.

I know that the biggest mistakes I’ve made have become the greatest lessons that ultimately led to growth.

However, when we get burned by other people’s mistakes the lesson we typically learn is to stop asking for help. We think it’s easier to do it ourselves, that we can’t rely on other people, and we stop believing in the people around us.

But we can’t let our ego block and deny someone from that unique and critical experience.

And so, the more important lesson is to know that when someone makes a mistake, they are about to learn something important.

We have to hold on to two contradictory thoughts:

1. People will make mistakes, and…

2. I can trust them to do their job.

Both can be true at the same time.

We have to separate behaviour from character. We have to know where they are, and at the same time see their potential. We’re realistic, with ambition.