Rules Of Management

RULE 10 - Let them make mistakes

“A boss fixes blame, a manager fixes mistakes.”
Anonymous

There is an old Chinese that goes something like this: ‘Tell me and I’ll remember for an hour; show me and I’ll remember for a day; but let me do it and I’ll remember forever.’ Fair enough. And if you are going to let people do it then they are going to do it badly at first. They are going to make mistakes. And you are going to let them.

“Tell ma and I’ll remember for an hour; show me and I’ll remember for a day; but let me do it and I’ll remember forever.”

If you a parent you know the organizing thing you go through with a two-year-old who insists they can pour their own drink – and then proceeds to spill most of it on the table. You stand by with a cloth behind your back because you know that:

- They are going to spill it
- It is you who is going to have to mop it up
- The spilling process is important and you have to let them do it and they will progress to not spilling but only once they have got the spilling out of the way first.

As a parent you so that wonderful hovering thing, ready to grab the juice if it is going to spill too much, or grab the cup if it is going over, or even grab the child if it is going to fall off the chair due to such intense concentration.

I’m not saying members of your team are like small children – well, I am actually but don’t tell them – but it is imperative you learn to let them do the spilling if they are to progress. Make sure you have your cloth behind your back ready to mop up after them.

And after each spilling you don’t tell them off. Instead you offer praise – ‘Well done, brilliant job, incredible progress’. Try not to let them see the cloth or the mopping up.

posted by Right Ranger @ 6:02 PM