Helping young professionals succeed in work and life

Making Mistakes

Just a reflection over my breakfast tea (English breakfast, 2 sugars, milk).

There's a woodworking adage that goes something like this: "Every one makes mistakes. The difference between a beginner and the Master Craftsman is the Master Craftsman knows how to fix his mistakes."

This story comes from when you are creating a piece of woodwork, you learn to make cuts in such a way that if the pieces don't fit, you can adjust your cut to make them fit perfectly. Usually that means cutting less, or cutting at a certain angle to the wood line.

So yesterday, I mounted my TV to the wall. My 2 attempts failed rather amusingly. First attempt, I used the wrong drill bit, and made some ridiculously stupid holes.

Second attempt, TV was at a slanted angle, even after spending 20 minutes to get 2 small marks drawn on the wall using the leveling tool.

In my third attempt, I got it perfect, and with less time than the first 2 attempts. It was making the small mistakes that were easier to correct which helped the most.

Small Mistake = Leveling each mount. Big mistake = Leveling the line connecting each mount.

Finished product, but don't mind the mess. It'ld be gone later today. :D

Now my story about mounting a TV is boring as batsh*t, but I figured the 3 hours spent is worth a 5 minute write up. :P

This kinda leads me to my point. As a leader, how does one 'fix' a mistake? Should one do a "Ricky Ponting" and resign? Or disappear like the TEPCO CEO in Japan? What examples are there of leaders who make mistakes, and still come back (Please don't say Goldman Sachs! hehe)

Tomorrow, or Monday, I have the very unpleasant job of sitting in a committee where the incoming leader is going to be lynched by a number of the committee members for his mistakes. Rather interesting since the lynchee is the one that formed the committee to start with.

I guess we still have a long way to go to learn how to be master leader craftsmen. Perhaps having a Masters of Business Leadership will help. *grin*. Or maybe it's just that we need to keep persisting until we get it right on the 2nd, or 3rd, or nth attempt.

p.s. Such negative politics is uncomfortable, and I have a mind to distance myself completely from this national committee, while they sort themselves out.

p.p.s. TV looks great. I can now get rid of the dodge ikea TV stand. :D

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Comment by Alicia Curtis on April 1, 2011 at 10:16am: Always good to ask questions Tiang!

Comment by Tiang Cheng on April 1, 2011 at 9:02am: Thanks Alicia, sorry, i'm a bit thick, but yes that makes perfect sense.

Comment by Alicia Curtis on April 1, 2011 at 6:31am: There are lots of examples of mistakes:

- said the wrong thing or acted in an unappealing way in a meeting

- contributed to a negative workplace culture like talking about a person behind their back

- didn't get buy in from all team members before going ahead with a decision

I'm sure we can all think of a mistake we have made in business or in the workplace. Instead of avoiding the issue, take responsibility for our actions and make it right.

Does that make sense Tiang?

Comment by Tiang Cheng on March 31, 2011 at 9:14pm: I gotta keep the TV stand for if i get rid of the TV. But if you want a TV Wall mount, you can get them from kogan.com.au for $80 shipped.

Not having time to put into a committee isn't a mistake. Sorry, I don't think that's an example of accountability. Responsibility and honesty yes. :)

Comment by Marisa Wikramanayake on March 31, 2011 at 4:42pm: Also: Ceylon Orange Pekoe /Broken Orange Pekoe, 4 sugars, milk. :-D

Comment by Marisa Wikramanayake on March 31, 2011 at 4:26pm: 1) I agree with Alicia - accountability is important
2) An example? If a mistake is made, taking responsibility for it, owning up to it, being honest about how it happened and apologising, asking for help to correct it if need be and outlining ideas on how to a) solve the immediate problem and b) how to solve the underlying causes that led to it.

Accountability is also - here's a personal one: I stepped down from certain roles on the committee because I didn't have the time to put into them. That's accountability too - being honest about what you can and can't do.

3) Can I have your TV stand? Seriously I need one.

Comment by Tiang Cheng on March 31, 2011 at 11:22am: Can you give an example of what accountability means?

Comment by Alicia Curtis on March 31, 2011 at 10:29am: :) Nice post Tiang!

I would say that accountability is one of the most important components of leadership and that includes being accountable to your mistakes.

I think CEOs etc do themselves a disservice by trying to avoid accountability (and some how protect their reputation) - because it actually does the exact opposite and becomes about finger pointing and public blaming. Sadly I think that's what we've been seeing a lot of lately - big mistakes with no one brave enough to own up.

Instead, I would encourage young leaders to step up, be accountable, constantly learn, apologize for any mistakes and act quickly to overcome the situation.