It’s Not a Mistake Unless You Can’t Fix It
Entrepreneurs are fearless individuals. It takes veins full of ice water to throw aside fear to start a new business; to put personal funds at risk; to suspend family time, miss Little League games and recitals, and take fewer vacations; and throw a large ball of chaos into a room of delicate crystal.
Given all that courage, why are entrepreneurs so afraid of making mistakes?
I think it could be because mistakes are viewed as failures, and not as what they truly are. Let's face it, if you work at Bi-Lo and screw up, Bi-Lo gets blamed. When you work for yourself and you mess up, you get blamed. The fear is justified.
My wife, Meghan, told our daughter something one day that has stuck with her for about three years. Meghan and Rylee were working on a painting at the dining room table. Rylee spilled a little bit of paint in a place she hadn't intended to. She took one look at it and said "It's ruined." Meghan looked over and said, "I don't think it is ruined." "Just look at it!" Rylee said. "I see it. I just think that you can do something with it. It’s not a mistake unless you can’t fix it.”
So, the next time you feel as though you screwed up, look at the facts of the case.
- Did you do something that cannot be undone?
- Did you do something that caused irreparable harm?
Or,
- Did you make an error, one that can be remedied with an apology and a “do-over” at no charge?
- Did you order the incorrect part and set back your deadline by a few days, which can be explained with a phone call?
- Did you make a typo in an important email or letter, resulting in a nice meal of crow for you?
- During this past tax season, I ran a tax estimate for a client who owns several small businesses. When I prepare a tax estimate of this size, I have to make sure I'm including estimated income from ALL the businesses to give her an approximate liability. I omitted one of them, and the end result was a $40,000 discrepancy between what I estimated and reality. I ate some crow that day, but when I took ownership of the error, no one yelled at me. I have made some changes to my process, however, to ensure that won't happen again.
You know what fixes most mistakes? Your courage to own the problem and offer a solution. Go out there and do that, and your mistakes will become the glue that holds you and your customers together.
You know what fixes most mistakes? The courage inherent in all entrepreneurs.If we take away the fear of making mistakes, what is it that holds entrepreneurs back from being bold? The answer is NOTHING. Remove the stigma from the act of making mistakes, and there is NOTHING to stop entrepreneurs from changing the world.
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