The Miracle of Making Mistakes

HBR Blogs
Vineet Nayar

* On:
* Talent management,
* Leadership,
* Organizational culture



Make no mistake: The fear of making mistakes is deeply ingrained in our psyche.

All through school, a mistake indicates the prospect of lower grades. Good students don't make mistakes. At home, mistakes lead to admonishments. Good children follow the rules. At work, mistakes have serious repercussions. Good workers get it right the first time.

But, in those very schools and organizations where we are marked down for making mistakes, we also learn that people often stumble upon great inventions. There's growing evidence to suggest that innovation flourishes when people are given the space to make mistakes. Even Mahatma Gandhi attached value to experimentation; he believed that "freedom isn't worth having if it doesn't include the freedom to make mistakes."

Why then don't we allow, much less encourage, making mistakes? Most of us, particularly in business, fight shy of them. We believe that people will see a faux pas as incompetence. We also feel that success is driven by our image as experts rather than as learners. And the measures of our performance are numbers such as sales, profits, total returns to shareholders, and so on.

Are these really the best measures of success? Consider an alternative. What if we were to ask employees what mistakes they committed because they did something differently? What did they learn?

Does that sound a little crazy? It may, but we have to bring the human element back in business; we can't function as extensions of computer programs. Some mission-critical and life-threatening tasks may have zero tolerance for failure, but not the rest of our work and lives. I'm not suggesting breaking every rule; I feel we should institutionalize the art of making mistakes; introduce a method for the madness; and innovate the innovation process.

Imagine encouraging an employee to keep trying to solve a problem until he or she makes, say, five mistakes. Imagine asking team members whether they have made their five mistakes yet! Trust me, if you aren't making mistakes, you're not learning — or, at least, you're not learning enough.

Do you remember the first time you rode a bicycle? Can you relive the exhilaration of riding free, the sense of triumph as you broke free of the crutches of support? Now step back. How many times did you fall off the bike before that first ride?

I remember my first class in engineering school during which our professor asked us to dismantle an engine. We did that. Then he asked us to put it together and walked away. We messed that up big time and had to work at it for days. I learned more about engineering in that short time than I did in the next four years. Why don't you ask your employees to dismantle something and then, give them the time but not the help to put it together?

Do you have the nerve to encourage the mistakes that people will inevitably make on the path of discovery?

Which Time Management Style are You?

Last week I did a presentation on Time Management Personality Types. Some of the descriptions seemed to strike a chord with many people in the room. Take a look at these common styles and see if one applies to you:

The Fireman - For you, every event is a crisis. You're so busy putting out fires that you have no time to deal with anything else - especially boring, mundane things such as time management. Tasks pile up around you while you rush from fire to fire all day.

Firemen lose an amazing amount of time and efficiency as they bounce from one task to the next, never finding completion. They get bored with repetitive tasks, even if they are a high priority, and move on to things that are more interesting. Firemen forget that their lives are no different from anyone else’s – they just choose to continually refocus on the next ‘emergency’. They are always dreaming about the next deal, the next sales conversation, or the next company they will be working for.

Firemen need time management systems that keep them on track and make their days flow smoothly. Because Firemen aren’t good at mundane tasks, they like time management systems that are simple to update and easy to use, plus stay in their face throughout the day pushing them to maintain their focus on what’s really important. A written list or home computer that can be ignored may not work for a Fireman – an incessantly beeping alarm is more in tune with their personality. Firemen need to consciously allocate time for everyday tasks and take active measures (like closing their door and turning off their phone) to keep their mind on the present moment.

The Perfectionist - You have a compulsion to cross all the "t's" and dot all the "i's", preferably with elaborate whorls and curlicues. Exactitude is your watchword, and you feel that no rushed job can be a good job. Finishing tasks to your satisfaction is such a problem you need more time zones, not just more time.

Perfectionists are in search of something that doesn’t exist, and that unachievable vision sucks away their time. They continually notice all the mistakes and deviations from what’s “right.” They have a critical inner voice that is constantly raising the bar and pushing them to do things correctly. The problem is that Perfectionists lose productivity as they spend hours and days working to improve things beyond what is reasonable or required. They get lost in the minutia of work and lose track of the big picture. Perfectionists also have trouble letting people help them and delegating tasks, as they believe no one can perform up to their high standards.

Perfectionists need a detailed and thorough time management system that allows them to keep track of all the variables and information they require to feel in control. They probably can’t fit all the information they want to see on a weekly calendar and may prefer to order their lives day-by-day. Their own customized system may be required so that it lives up to exacting standards. Because they want everything to be neat, orderly and up-to-date, electronic time management tools can be better than paper because they keep the Perfectionist from writing and rewriting their lists and plans incessantly.

The Over-Committer - Your problem is you can't say 'No'. All anyone has to do is ask, and you'll chair another committee, take on another project, or organize yet another community event. You're so busy you don't even have time to write down all the things you have to do!

Over-Committer’s good intentions create big problems. They take on more than they can handle thinking that they are doing other people a favor, but in reality they generally end up doing nothing well because of their unrealistic schedule of obligations. They are harried, usually late, and frequently grouchy – but they have no one to blame but themselves! Over-Committers try to do too much, and in spite of their intentions, they often are unable to follow through. It’s better to say no to some things and do the important things with excellence.

Over-Committers primarily need a time management system to remind themselves to maintain balance. They should engage systems that block time for various things and allow dedicated work time for all the miscellaneous duties of everyday life. Whether it’s paper or electronic, the simple act of writing lists and timelines will probably help Over-Committers recognize the limitations of what they are capable of - and remember all the things they’ve already said ‘yes’ to!

The Snoozer - There is such as thing as being too "laid-back" - especially when it starts interfering with your ability to finish tasks or return phone calls. Getting to things when you get to them isn't time management; it's simple task avoidance.

Snoozers tend to be emotional, artistic, creative, and introspective. They get lost in the moment and cannot stay on task. Difficult, meticulous or mundane tasks simply aren’t fun, but they have to be done. Snoozers are fantastic at avoiding budgeting, record keeping, entering data, or making decisions, often relying on their intuition alone to see them through. Delay is nothing more than denial. If something has to be done, whether it’s fun or not, it’s best to just do it!

Snoozers need a steady stream of reminders to get through the day. They need a detailed time management system that will allow them to cover all their bases so that important tasks cannot be forgotten or skipped. The automation of electronic systems can be helpful in programming reminders far in advance and keeping Snoozers on schedule. And remember, if a system takes too much effort to maintain, it will simply become one more thing that the Snoozer puts off doing.

The Talker - Born to socialize, you have astounding oral communication skills and can't resist exercising them at every opportunity. Every interaction becomes a long drawn out conversation - especially if there's an unpleasant task dawning that you'd like to put off.

Talkers have plenty of good points. They are emotional, engaged, and invested in relationships and intimacy. But they often get drawn into tasks that are not in their best interest. They lose track of their priorities and long-range objectives to assist others. Their love of conversation and people interaction can lead to days and weeks of wasted time and energy.

Talkers are sensitive, touchy-feely types and they generally like paper systems. Contact management and appointment schedules will usually take precedence over task lists. That being said, task lists are the thing that Talkers need to focus on the most to get things done. They need deadlines, clear priorities and motivation to complete their to-do list. Visualizing the stages required to accomplish goals and seeing the big picture can be crucial to managing their time wisely.