The Power in Normalizing Mistakes at Work
Innovation is change built on miss-takes and learning.
I distinctly remember as a kid being mortally embarrassed when it was discovered I made a mistake. Oh, the shame of it.
If you’re like most people, you grew up in a performance culture focused on being right, doing right and getting it perfect.
These cultures don’t leave room for learning and developing expertise through experimentation or safe practice. Instead, they create a pressure cooker of anxiety that teaches us it’s risky to do something new or different, and to question our worth.
So, is it any wonder why, when we ask people to innovate, they scatter to the hills and button down the hatches on what is tried and true?
Even if it’s not working, causing us grief and negatively impacting results, status quo, with all its faults is known; different is uncomfortable.
But here’s the paradox. Innovation thrives when employees feel safe to take risks, but many workplaces still treat mistakes as failures.
The Need for a Growth Mindset
Innovation is change built on miss-takes and learning.
At essence, people engaging in innovation need three things:
- Risk-taking
- A growth-mindset
- Psychological safety
Think of risk-taking as tolerance for ambiguity and concrete experimentation.
I liken risk-taking to a fishing expedition. You navigate uncharted waters, drop your line and live with the fact you have no freakin’ idea what you’ll get. Could be the makings of a fish-fry or a nothing burger.
If you got a nothing burger, did you make a mistake? Was the expedition a failure?
It depends on your point of view.
Which leads us to the need for a growth mindset.
People who cultivate a growth mindset view challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, and failures as valuable feedback that informs future improvement rather than a reflection of their worth.
Instead of being afraid of making mistakes, they lead with curiosity rather than judgment and wonder, “What are the lessons and the gifts?”
Finally, let’s talk about psychological safety. It’s the belief that you can share your ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes without fear of being punished, humiliated or judged.
Innovation is a team sport and teams who manage to achieve psychological safety get there through intentional practice in open communication, building trust and promoting a growth mindset.
Do you notice the common element in each of these three things that are essential to innovation?
Mistakes.
“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” —Henry Ford
How to Normalize Mistakes at Work
So, if innovation is the aim, what can you do as a leader to normalize mistakes and create a safe space for trial and error?
Given our collective conditioning to duck and hide from admitting mistakes it’s going to take a bit of effort to get your team to embrace the idea of normalizing mistakes, taking risks and heartily wading into the discomfort of innovation informed by trial and error.
Here’s what NOT to do. It’s not enough to say you welcome mistakes. And encouraging people to take risks is akin to asking them to take a leap off a cliff for you. Ain’t gonna happen.
It’s not enough to say it – it’s how you play it
Here’s why.
You’re human. And as leader my bet is you aren’t in the habit of welcoming mistakes.
So, until people know they can trust you and trust each other to treat mistakes with empathy and curiosity rather than judgment, shame and blame you’ll be fighting an uphill battle of behaviour repatterning.
I’ve got three suggestions to help normalize mistakes at work.
1Bring mistakes to light
Let’s admit mistakes are going to happen. Nobody is perfect. We are all human.
2Create ground rules
Every sports team has rules of play. Your team needs them too.
Create ground rules to help your team normalize mistakes. Here are a few to get started:
Be Honest and Transparent
Have the courage to openly share mistakes without fear of blame or judgment.
Lead with Empathy and Respect
Treat yourself and others kindly when mistakes happen; focus on understanding, not criticism. Be open and curious, not judgmental.
Focus on Solutions and Learning
When mistakes occur, we’ll work together to find fixes and discuss what we learned and what we can apply or adapt for next time.
Celebrate Lessons Learned
Regularly share and celebrate what mistakes have taught the team. Ask “what are the lessons, what are the gifts?”
Support Each Other and Encourage Growth
Make it safe to ask for help, try new things, and view mistakes as a natural part of continuous improvement.
3Model openness and vulnerability
As a leader, your people take their cues from you. When they see you taking risks, making mistakes and being honest about them, they will soon follow suit.
Start by talking openly about your own mistakes and what you learned from them.
There’s a lot of power in normalizing mistakes at work.
Workplace well-being gets a boost, individuals and teams learn to focus on lessons and gifts that build momentum rather than mire them in muck, and the creativity needed to fuel innovation is unleashed.
How does your team respond to mistakes?
What’s one mistake your team learned from recently?
How did you celebrate the lessons learned?
Does your team’s success depend on their ability to innovate?
Tell us your story. Whether you’re navigating change, responding to the learning needs of your team, or working to build innovation skills in your organization, we’ll listen to what you need to achieve and help you decide if our team is a good fit.
There’s no mistake in booking a 30-minute discovery call with Janice.
