07.28.11
The Pain of Mistakes
Feel the pain. Major league baseball game. Runners on first and second, one out. Easy pop fly between first and second in the grass. Second baseman catches the fly, then leisurely skips over to the stands and flips the ball to the ball girl- only to realize that his fans are screaming, look 1, look 1. The ball girl had already given the ball to one of the fans. Needless to say, the runners were awarded two bases. One run scored. Did I mention that the player was also an All Star?
Yes that was painful to watch. As a major league business professional have you or your staff ever made a mistake that embarrasses you or costs money? The answer is most likely yes. If your answer is no, you need to take a polygraph. However, it isn’t always the mistake that is the issue but it is how the mistake is handled. The mistake has to be acknowledged, a solution found and implemented. There are a few ways that we can keep mistakes at a minimum and get past them.
• Know the game situation. The major league baseball player had a brain fade and did not know how many outs there were in the inning. As a business professional, it is important to know potential threats, weaknesses and opportunities and enable your staff to react appropriately.
• Acknowledge the mistake and move on. Quoting the all-star, “You see it every now and then. Life goes on. Nobody’s perfect.” As frustrating as it may be that is what we have to do with mistakes- deal with them and move forward.
• Get back in the game. Later in the same game, the player made several decent plays. Quitting is not an option. Dust yourself off and go to battle once again. There are always critics but those are usually the ones not in the game and who are content with being ordinary.
Now go play like an All-Star.
Regards,
Brian Boek
