Mistakes Win Sucess...

One of my friend gave some tips on how you can create a work culture that encourages prudent risk taking:

Be accommodating:Encourage and build a climate where problems are accepted and mistakes acknowledged. Do not respond to a mistake by an immediate scolding. Try to solve the problem, aAccept MistakesSubordinates must be taught that errors are part of the cost of development. A mistake provides an excellent opportunity to learn and improve on whatever is being done. On the other hand, irrational and repeated mistakes should not be tolerated.

Tolerate failure:Many innovations and concepts are not successful initially. Persistence and the ability to deal with disappointment and failure are therefore essential. To learn from one’s mistakes, one must be able to accept failure, analyze the reasons for the failure and then take the appropriate action. As Akio Morita, the Chairman of Sony says, “when customers see our products they only see success, they do not see the 99% of failures that made that product possible”.

Do not be conditioned by past failures:There is a tendency for managers to be conditioned by past mistakes and failures. This encourages conservatism and caution. Past mistakes must be acknowledged and learned from. They must never be allowed to impede risk taking options in the future.

It is always easy for managers to take the path of least resistance and seek out only the risk free options. This not only reduces managers to being mere clerks who routinely and mechanically follow some laid down rules and never look beyond them, but it also affects a company’s overall success.

As Bill Gates, the CEO and Chairman of Microsoft says, “How a company deals with mistakes suggests how well it will bring out the best ideas and talents of its people, and how effectively it will respond to change. When employees know that mistakes won’t lead to retribution, it creates an atmosphere in which people are willing to come up with ideas and suggest changes. This is important to a company’s long term success.”

Moreover, in certain industries not making mistakes is a sure sign of a shirker. For example, in the media industry one can often hear old timers say “only those who work make mistakes”.

These are the people who have realized the wisdom in the words of the great Italian sculptor and artist Michaelangelo who once said: “Trifles make perfection and perfection is no triflend then, more importantly, discuss how the mistake could be avoided in the future.