See what I did there....funny, no??
When a mistake is made, and they will be...and often....so very often, how do you look at it? How do you process it? How do you approach it?
"Stupid _____ department.", "Damn support team", "Those ____ guys screw up everything.", etc, etc.
Sound familiar? If you hear someone saying this, go correct them (I'll give you details below)....say it often yourself? Then you should either change, or find a new job...maybe some therapy. Medication, maybe.
Step 1: Mistakes are inevitable. Human, mechanical, electrical, clerical, etc, etc, etc.....plan, take ownership, mitigate, embrace, learn, coach, mitigate some more, learn some more. For those who have followed this blog for a while, you may recall the saying "Keep the shit to shoe level." This is what I speak of, expect it and see it coming.
Step 2: You just uncovered or were made aware of a mistake. STOP...breathe. DO NOT assign blame. Blame is a meaningless thing. Most of the people you work with are of the age that they are no longer capable of being "in trouble' unless connected to someone wearing a badge or a judge's robe (if you are a cop or a judge, this blog doesn't really apply to you). Plus, it's an un-evolved and base mode of thinking. It's punitive. There is no worse approach in the business world than being punitive (and FYI....eventually cutting out a teammate that cannot perform is not punitive, it is empowering to their future or could be).
Step 3: Turn that eye inward. Whatever the mistake, search for EVERY possible way you personally created it. Miscommunication, lack of proper pre-evaluation, lack of mitigation, lack of documentation....feeling fascination (sorry, that's just a lot of "-ations"). Be relentless.
Step 4: While blame is bad, fault doesn't have to be. Maybe this is just semantics (and this is my blog, so whatever) but finding where a fault lies is, to me, a different approach. So where does the fault exist? Process, mechanical, clerical, personal.....It's OK....approach the issue and co-own it completely. Analyze the way in which the issue occurred/breakdown happened. Then over communicate....bring it all to light. Control that which you can, accept that which you cannot.
Now...realize there is no "I"....or "You"....or "They"......only "We"......go back up to Step 1. Rinse, lather, repeat...and repeat....and repeat.
When a mistake is made, and they will be...and often....so very often, how do you look at it? How do you process it? How do you approach it?
"Stupid _____ department.", "Damn support team", "Those ____ guys screw up everything.", etc, etc.
Sound familiar? If you hear someone saying this, go correct them (I'll give you details below)....say it often yourself? Then you should either change, or find a new job...maybe some therapy. Medication, maybe.
Step 1: Mistakes are inevitable. Human, mechanical, electrical, clerical, etc, etc, etc.....plan, take ownership, mitigate, embrace, learn, coach, mitigate some more, learn some more. For those who have followed this blog for a while, you may recall the saying "Keep the shit to shoe level." This is what I speak of, expect it and see it coming.
Step 2: You just uncovered or were made aware of a mistake. STOP...breathe. DO NOT assign blame. Blame is a meaningless thing. Most of the people you work with are of the age that they are no longer capable of being "in trouble' unless connected to someone wearing a badge or a judge's robe (if you are a cop or a judge, this blog doesn't really apply to you). Plus, it's an un-evolved and base mode of thinking. It's punitive. There is no worse approach in the business world than being punitive (and FYI....eventually cutting out a teammate that cannot perform is not punitive, it is empowering to their future or could be).
Step 3: Turn that eye inward. Whatever the mistake, search for EVERY possible way you personally created it. Miscommunication, lack of proper pre-evaluation, lack of mitigation, lack of documentation....feeling fascination (sorry, that's just a lot of "-ations"). Be relentless.
Step 4: While blame is bad, fault doesn't have to be. Maybe this is just semantics (and this is my blog, so whatever) but finding where a fault lies is, to me, a different approach. So where does the fault exist? Process, mechanical, clerical, personal.....It's OK....approach the issue and co-own it completely. Analyze the way in which the issue occurred/breakdown happened. Then over communicate....bring it all to light. Control that which you can, accept that which you cannot.
Now...realize there is no "I"....or "You"....or "They"......only "We"......go back up to Step 1. Rinse, lather, repeat...and repeat....and repeat.
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