Errors are Opportunities
Mistakes are never easy…
…at least not for me (I’m sure others out there feel the same). There are times when I’ve sent an email to the wrong person or said the wrong thing at an inappropriate time. When that happens, I sometimes feel vulnerable or irritated with myself. These feelings are totally normal. However, in the moments following a mistake, there is an opportunity to learn through utilizing a “growth mindset.” While there’s additional work involved in thinking through the mistake, this can help others from making the same mistake.
What specifically is a growth mindset? It’s about prioritizing growth and learning. Those with a growth mindset understand a mistake is a learning moment.
The first step of a growth mindset after making a mistake is acknowledging what happened. This can be difficult! It forces many of us out of our comfort zone to take a critical look at mistake. However, in doing this it gives us an opportunity to understand the full scope of the mistake. In some cases the mistake may require staff fill out a critical incident form. The process of filling out the critical incident form can help someone take a closer look. If a critical incident form is not required, another option is just writing it down what happened or talking it through with a coworker.
The second step is asking ourselves the tough questions that will help us learn from the mistake. Like the first step, taking a critical look at your actions may be uncomfortable. Below are some questions to ask to get a deeper understanding of the impact of the mistake:
What went wrong?
What could I do the next time?
What did I learn from this?
The third thing is to make a plan. Factoring in the tough questions above we can look at what is going to help to prevent this from happening again. This might mean filling out a hazard assessment, and taking the recommended steps towards prevention. Another strategy could be adding the preventative steps to a work plan. If in doubt as to how to best move forward don’t hesitate to connect with your immediate supervisor. They may be able to offer guidance on how to move forward with a plan.
In the fourth step, we want to make it harder to make the mistake again. It would be fantastic to think that willpower alone would do the trick, but oftentimes avoiding a mistake means following and communicating the plan you created. This might mean connecting with your supervisor and asking if you could present on your mistake to the rest of your team.
Regardless of how you move though the steps above, please know you’re not alone. If there is something that you've encountered, or a mistake that you've made it is really likely that someone else on your team has encountered the same thing. When we identify a mistake, take responsibility, then we own that mistake.
Below are some resources that can help to better understand a growth mindset and how learning from mistakes can be something positive that comes out of making a mistake:
Article contributed by Renee Iverson, Director of Housing Services
