Why We Need A Shift In Attitude Towards Mistakes In Business...

In my last blog I talked about building your team and how to utilise them to your advantage. But what happens if you get it wrong? After all, there are many sharks out there waiting to take advantage. I have been developing my business for over nine years, and I can confidently say that I will only be as successful as my biggest mistake, and one thing I can promise you is I have made some very big mistakes!

I view mistakes as lessons, as I believe that we only learn from the mistakes we make. However, this only works when we are in the right mindset, but that is where I have found the problem. In my opinion people in the UK have a terrible attitude towards making mistakes, especially when they result in failure. I think its almost built into our psyche but I believe that instead of wasting energy, we should take some time to step away, clear our head and analyize what happened.When I have made a mistake, I find it best to sit down with some paper and write down all the details of this, creating a mind map can be really useful. This includes what happened, who did it effect, what was the outcome and if you could do it all over again what would you do differently.

Learning from mistakes applies not only in business but I have found that it has also been just as helpful in my personal life. I have discovered that if I do not learn from my mistakes in my personal life, my attitude can be affected which hinders my ability to perform efficiently within my business. Once I have done my mind map, I put it up somewhere I can see it. If it is to do with my personal life I put it up at home, if it is to do with business I will put it somewhere other members of my team can see and learn from.

Sometimes when we make a mistake there is no solution, sometimes its just about realising the lesson you have learnt. I have come across many examples of brilliant mistakes made by myself and others in the industry I work in. For example, the sole reason we now eat chocolate in a bar form instead of drinking it was due to an apprentice working for Lindt, who accidentally left a chocolate machine on overnight. When they arrived in the morning the boss of the apprentice was furious with him. However, they tasted the chocolate and discovered it was smooth and silky and decided to start producing it.

You should not be too hard on yourself when mistakes occur. Its important to not focus on how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you stand up! In fact, theres a line from the film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which I believe sums it up well: Everything will be alright in the end, If its not alright, then its not the end!