QH #7: A Parenting Lesson on Mistakes
QH #7: A Parenting Lesson on Mistakes
Why mistakes are a good thing and how to learn from them
This is the 7th installment of my “Quick Hitter” (QH) series devoted to delivering a lesson or insight you can digest in a short amount of time.
Overview
This is a lesson on mistakes when parenting a 5-year-old and how this applies in the professional world. Mistakes are a good thing and equally important as having success. This is counterintuitive. If you are not making mistakes, you are not trying, building, or participating. Kids (and adults) should be comfortable making mistakes and not feeling embarrassed about them. I can’t begin to tell you how much milk has been spilled in our house by the 5-year-old. You can’t put up guardrails for every little thing. That only leads to sadness, toil, and burnout. You can’t learn without making mistakes along the way.
An Example
You are the senior person on the team. Another teammate is trying, and you know a mistake will happen. This goes against our instincts, but it’s often best to let them make that mistake so they can learn. Controlling too much of a situation and imposing your “experience” might make a difference at the moment but can work against making the team better in the long run. Sometimes sacrificing a little bit of efficiency for the sake of learning is the right thing to do.
Conclusion
Our ego struggles with making mistakes and compels us to want to be right. That can be a good thing however we have to put it in check and allow ourselves to fail. Using Amazon’s “are right, a lot” principle requires one to have “been wrong, a lot”. Increasing your chances of being right requires experience of being wrong and making mistakes.
Are there exceptions? No doubt, for example, if there is a catastrophic event on the horizon, grave consequences, massive blast radius, or if it’s a rare “one-way” decision. This is why environments where you can practice and make mistakes without fear are critical. Seek out a culture and leadership team that fosters these environments.
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