Do you make it safe for yourself and others to screw up sometimes?
We’re all being asked to create and innovate. To take risks. To stretch and scan the horizon and build something that doesn’t currently exist.
You can’t give birth to something new without making mistakes along the way. It’s part of the process. No creative plan of action is guaranteed to yield desirable results the first time.
The question is, do you stop trying? Or do you make it safe for yourself and others to screw up sometimes?
Ask yourself how ready and willing are you to allow mistakes to be made. If you’re not, then stop asking for creativity and innovation!
Though – I think we can all agree that’s not really an option. None of us can stand still. You can’t. I can’t. What’s more – none of us wants to stand still. We want to leave a mark on the world. To leave it better than we found it.
Make that change possible. Make the creative process safe.
Make it safe to be human.
Safe to express a vulnerability.
Safe to embrace mistakes as reference points for learning.
Safe to discover what not to do instead of just what to do.
Safe to discover a deeper understanding and level of capability.
Safeguard yourself, your team, and your company from the real mistake – getting hit by the accumulative impact of covered-up errors. The $2 million product recall caused by people allowing production to continue because no one wanted to speak up about what had been screwed up.
That’s the risk you run when mistakes are punished, instead of help up as learning experiences.
Trust Tip:
- When you admit a mistake, you make it safe for other people to.
- Create a powerful vehicle for people to learn, grow, and discover.