Debra had a sinking feeling when the executive vice-president summoned her to his office.
Barely out of journalism school, she was hired to manage a major direct mail campaign for a publishing company. This involved supervising the copy writing, production and distribution. It did not reassure her that the executive somberly asked her to take a seat.
The executive told Debra that the printed envelopes she ordered were too small for the brochures to fit inside them. In short, the envelopes were useless. Debra instantly realized the impact: additional costs to rectify the problem, lower profits, and delayed distribution.
“I’m sorry, Deb,” the executive said, “Now you have to go…”
Fighting back her tears, she rose from her chair and mumbled, “I’ll clean up my desk.”
The executive smiled, “No, you didn’t get me. Go call the printer and see how quickly he can print the new envelopes. Just make sure you tell them the right size. Then come back and let’s figure this out.”
Debra left his office in a daze, unsure whether it was due to her mistake or her boss’s reaction. She made the call, got the information, and hesitantly reported to the executive. Schedules were quickly revised, but Debra lingered on.
“Sir, is that it?” she asked, “You’re not going to fire me? Or tell me how this is all my fault? Or how could I have been so stupid?”
“Deb,” the executive replied, “these things happen. Trying to figure out whose fault it is won’t do anything to solve the problem. We all make mistakes. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not learning.”
While mistakes are inevitable, what counts is how we benefit from them. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not learning. This does not give us license to render sloppy work, uncaring on how our mistakes will affect the company. But neither should we fail to learn from honest mistakes. Just don’t commit the same blunder again and again.
So if you are haunted by that boo-boo last week, take heart. Mistakes and failure don’t define you. Now back to the task at hand…
February 1, 2022
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