(ThyBlackMan.com) Is making mistakes good for your business? Yes, it is. Whether we are a student trying to get higher grades or an artist who is trying to make a perfect painting, at some point, we all struggle. It’s hard to accept our own imperfections because many of us are taught to be afraid of making mistakes. With this attitude, your mind starts believing that mistakes are unacceptable, but in reality, mistakes are good for your business, here’s why.
Mistakes help your business be the best it can be
Many of us are grown up in societies where making mistakes is considered a weakness. We are told to work on our weaknesses and it means that we have to put more of our time and energy into working on things we either don’t like or are not good at.
A child who loves science and hates mathematics is often told to focus more on maths and not on what he likes more. In this way, his scorecard may reflect the progress he makes in the subjects he dislikes, but to some extent, he is being restricted to focus on what he is actually good at.
In business, people make mistakes and these mistakes are ways to figure out what a person is good at. That knowledge of other things allows you to choose the right role for yourself. An entrepreneur wears many hats. He can be a marketer, an accountant, a leader, a planner, and everything in between. But to do incredible things, he needs to wear the right hat to put his energy and time into something he is a lot better at than the average people. Embracing this culture within your company can make a great positive impact.
You learn to take risks
With average standards, you are not going to live an extraordinary life. The same applies to your business as well. In order to make your business grow to the fullest, you have to do things you have never done before – as an individual, and as a team. To do that, you have to take courageous steps and move forward.
Mistakes teach you how to start small and take calculated risks. When you make a mistake, you learn why you were told to start small and why it’s not wise to take big steps all at once. When you become careless about payments, invoices, project deadlines or are afraid to make calls or write emails to certain people, you lose, and then you realize what it feels like when you don’t make decisions while you could.
Do one thing every day that scares you. That’s the lesson your mistakes want you to learn. Your mistakes can help you prepare for those uncomfortable situations and unexpected adventures. Say yes to something you’ve never done before. Mistakes will make you better, as a person and a professional.
Building a culture of transparency
A research conducted by Lingnan University and The Chinese University of Hong Kong found that mistakes lead people to adopt different behaviors. Some people choose the blaming approach, while the others focus on the problem-solving approach. Companies, where mistakes are not considered a sin, grow faster. The culture of sharing ideas and acknowledging mistakes should thrive in the top management as well.
When employees see that instead of concealing or hiding failures, the company encourages communicating ideas across different teams and departments, they feel happy and get more creative at work.
You will grow in wisdom as you make mistakes
There are lessons in business you learn the hard way. The lessons you learn from mistakes are timeless and they never lose their relevance. Whenever you’re about to commit the same mistake, they stop you to examine and make wise decisions. How you respond to failures is always up to you. So don’t be mad that something didn’t happen in the way you wanted it to be. Do not create a drama around your mistakes or publicly display what has happened.
Making mistakes in business is good because you learn many lessons from your mistakes. You learn that you should not always listen to what people tell you. Mistakes help you see how and where you’re headed to. Mistakes and failed attempts are part of the business process. It’s a way to improve your services and products and see possibilities of becoming better than yesterday. Nobody wins playing safe.
Staff Writer; Corey Shaw
Have any Tech Tips? News? Hit up our Tech Guru at; CoreyS@ThyBlackMan.com