Find three key mistake loaded instances where businesses may thwart progress and success by having a negative approach to mistakes. Mistakes seen as bad, needing to find and reprimand the culprit, and creating an environment where staff do not strive for growth because of the risk of mistakes is not beneficial in business today. Finding out what your personal references are and what meaning you apply to mistakes may well change the way to manage yourself, others and ultimately determine your success in business now and into the future.

1. By: Madelaine Cohen
Mistakes and
Meaning
By: Madelaine Cohen
Mistakes and
Meaning
By: Madelaine Cohen
Mistakes and
Meaning

2. Mistakes and Meaning
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes”
~ Oscar Wilde
Last week an executive woman who I mentor contacted me and just beyond
hello launched into a ballistic unloading. She could not believe the mistakes
that were occurring amongst the tasks her staff were working on. All of a
sudden she wanted everyone to focus on accuracy and in this instance all
that was happening were more mistakes. She was upset and felt that every
time she tried to address it, things were slipping from bad to worse.
This is a common challenge in many businesses and in a moment I let you
know my client’s outcome, but, first will explain how this challenge often
manifests and can be resolved with relative ease.
When it comes to mistakes manifesting into problems in business the
following hallmarks are often present:
1. A negative attitude and negative meaning given to mistakes. With much
amusement many of my clients discover that the meaning they give to
mistakes is something they have downloaded from childhood that is not
serving them as an adult. Many children experience the negative reaction of
an adult as they make a mistake, and then label mistakes as “bad.” Then in
adulthood the natural reaction to mistakes is to see them as “bad.” In my

3. business experience I’ve recognised that mistakes generally occur and the
most fantastic time, and I’m not being sarcastic. Mistakes occur in times of
change and growth. So in business I have always labelled mistakes as,
“potential in action.” I love and embrace mistakes as a sign of pushing the
boundary to the next level of success.
2. Seeing mistakes as a personal assault and seeking the source for
retribution or at the very least a good dressing down. How does this remind
you of childhood? Being found out, and embarrassed after making a
mistake. Never the best way to build self confidence and initiative. So in
business I see this so often. Management looks for the source, assigns
blame and demonstrates the damage, usually in the presence of others. You
can well imagine the response I receive with the attitude of finding out how
the mistake occurred without looking for a person, looking at how it could be
prevented or resolved even quicker in the future and looking for the person
who resolved it as a means of developing strategies for effective
management in problem solving.
3. Determining that mistakes are only damaging to the business and must
be avoided even at the cost of growth. Certainly mistakes can be damaging
to a business, some very much so. What is always critical though is how
they are managed and resolved. How staff are empowered to move on and
strive to deliver their very best, how clients and customers affected receive
sincere apology and service that goes beyond their expectations as a
remedy. This is the power of learning from mistakes and using them as
strength. Without the potential to make a mistake as a business is growing
the business will not grow out of fear. This is never healthy.
Back to my client, flipping out and losing the plot over her staff and their
mistakes. After a few minutes of venting I wanted to have a clear picture on
what making a mistake meant to my client. What were her references and
experiences in life about mistakes? Needless to say from a young age she
had gained beliefs that mistakes meant a lack of care, a personal attack, a
sign of failure and incompetence. The result was always punishment.
Imagine the barriers to success my client was carrying around with these
beliefs? In her moment of clarity she was gobsmacked at these beliefs and
saw how they were not serving her. So I put it to her, what if mistakes are
simply, “human potential in action?” She tried it on and for the next few
days looked at every mistake as “human potential in action.” Dealing with
the challenges from this viewpoint enabled her to come up feedback for her
staff that motivated them to try a little harder, be fearless in how they
tackled the tasks at hand and ultimately saw them break into a new league
in the project they were working on.

4. Madelaine Cohen
Lipstick Learning is an initiative of Sydney based business
leader & entrepreneur Madelaine Cohen. Sharing information
to increase the success of people who choose to lead. With
more than two decades in her own businesses in consumer
products, sports marketing and healthcare Madelaine takes a leading role
in helping people transition from employment to their own business in
the
health, beauty and anti-aging sector. She works on a 100%, 10 x 10,
$100K
model leading people to success and an income of $100K per year or
more in their own business.
Follow @madelainecohen
Visit http://lipsticklearning.com/mistakes-and-meaning/ to know more
information.
Author