Introduction

I recently had a staff member come to me and start a conversation by saying “I’ve made a really big mistake”. Much to her surprise, I immediately responded happily with “okay, I’ve got just the thing” and proceed to pull out the big eraser, which is clearly for those big mistakes! After giving her a moment to get over my dad joke sense of humor, I quickly assured her that there was very little she could do that we couldn’t recover from, and we’d figure it out. To be honest, I don’t even recall what the mistake was, and I’m sure we fixed whatever she perceived it to be.

I once had the honor of filling an Assistant City Administrator position vacated when a mentor of mine, Julie Bergstrom, entered retirement. As we prepared for the transition I was sitting in her office while she cleaned some items from a desk drawer, one of which was the big pink eraser. Julie tossed it to me and said “here, this is for the really big mistakes”. I recall replying with something along the lines of “if it was only so easy” and proceeded to share how I was nervous to fill the role. In her ever-calming, typical Julie fashion she just gave me a “oh, you’ll be fine, if you make mistakes just fix them”. I’m not sure if Julie intended some deep philosophical lesson, or was just cleaning out a drawer, but I’ve thought back to that moment many times.

We All Make Mistakes

Most of us know the saying that ‘to err is human’, or in other words, it is normal for people to make mistakes. Of course, we all make mistakes, even the greatest at their trades make mistakes. Did you know that:

Even in professional sports, where the athletes are the elite of the elite, there are mistakes made in every contest. Fielding errors in baseball, a fumbled turnover in football, fouls in basketball, etc., are all mistakes made by those who are the best at what they do.

Not too long ago in conversation with my boss, City Manager Patrick Duhaney, he told me about a lesson a mentor shared with him once, and that he has even told City Council, which is “we’re going to drop some passes once in a while.” Even NFL wide receivers, who are being counted on to get the first down or touchdown, drop the pass or miss the ball. No one is perfect. Now, of course if you can’t consistently make more catches than you drop or can’t be counted on to help ‘win the big game’ there are risks and complications which will follow. This lesson that Patrick shared with me has helped shaped a renewed perspective on mistakes.

Mistakes Can Be Good

Making mistakes is a matter of business, just as a matter of life. This is true in medicine, academia, sports…so why not also in public service? The reality is that if mistakes are not made, it likely means that there is little pursuit of innovation, creativity, or new programs. New technologies and tools, a changing workforce, fiscal impacts, or changes in community expectations are all reasons to challenge the status quo and try something different, or new. While we want to be sure to minimize mistakes, and ensure we succeed far more often than we fail, there can be benefits when missing the mark.

Professor Inigo Gallo, of IESE Business School writes that mistakes are essential for growth as a real leader and shares some important lessons gleaned from an interview with famed entrepreneur, Elena Betes Novoa. https://hbr.org/sponsored/2023/11/why-making-mistakes-is-essential-for-growth-as-a-real-leader

  • Making mistakes can bring teams closer together.

The shared experience of a mistake on a team can strengthen bonds and clarify priorities, especially when a leader steps forward to take accountability for the team.

  • Failure can help you build trust.

Owning a mistake and acknowledging your role in it, and working to correct it, can earn you more trust from a Council, Board or community.

  • Mistakes are learning opportunities.

Getting to the root cause of a mistake can help you identify larger problems or complexities that may not have been initially realized. Learning from mistakes also should mean learning not to repeat the same mistake, which can avoid bigger impacts in the future.

  • Allowing mistakes is healthy in an organizational culture.

Normalizing mistakes and providing space for error can be a boost to organizational confidence and satisfaction. Letting teams try new things can boost innovation and have a positive impact on member retention.

It is important to stay focused on success and minimize failures. Mistakes need not be celebrated, neither should they be disparaged. However, mistakes are going to happen, so when they do, it’s how we handle them that really matters.

How to Make Mistakes Like a Professional

In my current role as the chief of a municipal emergency medical services department, I get the opportunity to welcome newly certified paramedics into our operations and give them final approval before they go out and work on their own, without a preceptor. Part of my standard discussion with them prior to doing so includes commentary about mistakes, where I assure them that they will make mistakes, that honest mistakes aren’t what gets providers in trouble, and it’s what you do with, or after you make the mistake that matters most. When you make mistakes, make sure to also make AMENDS.

Acknowledge the mistake.

Make it yours (own it)

Ease the damage (minimize it)

Neutralize the problem (fix it)

Demonstrate the lesson (learn and teach from it)

Self-Reflect

Talking with those same paramedics I share with them that the providers who end up in my office, in trouble, are often there because they tried to cover-up a mistake or refuse to take accountability and not because of the original mistake. As President Nixon learned from the Watergate scandal…the cover-up can be viewed as worse than the crime. Having professional integrity and ethics means being willing to step forward, acknowledge mistakes and make them yours, or take ownership, even when no one saw you make them.

Ideally if we do make mistakes, they are made early on so any potential consequences are minimized to ease the damage. That’s why when implementing a new policy or program, or making an impactful decision, it’s important to assess and measure the impact, sooner, rather than later. Organizations should try to have comprehensive continuous quality improvement processes in place. These processes can help identify and neutralize the problem before it becomes bigger.

After the mistake is made and attempts are made to limit any impacts, and fix it from occurring again, it’s important to find the right opportunity to demonstrate the lesson. This means finding the right time to learn from the mistake and to assess any opportunity to teach others from it to help limit it from recurring. What went wrong? Is it a system issue? How will we ensure this won’t be repeated? Keeping in mind that the right time isn’t in the middle or chaos or when the impacts from the mistake are still being actively managed.

It’s also important to create time and space to self-reflect. Making mistakes can create stress and worry in some circumstances. Take the time to reflect on what happened, how it made you feel, and how it affected others. Seek forgiveness if there were personalized impacts, just don’t forget to forgive yourself as well.

Forgive with Grace

Earlier in this writing I referenced the age-old saying “to err is human’. Well, English poet Alexander Pope included a second part to that phrase, and that is ‘to forgive is divine’. This famous phrase was used in Pope’s “An Essay on Criticism” and was his call to critics not to forget their own humanity and shortcomings prior to judging the work(s) of others. It also reinforces that forgiveness is so supremely good that it is Godly .

The mistakes we make have consequences; we hope those are avoided or minimized. However, sometimes they have personalized impacts on others. The mistakes others make may have impact on us as well. If we can acknowledge that mistakes will happen, that honest mistakes are not nefarious or intentional, and can be a good thing, then we should work to ensure space for forgiveness and try to lead with grace.

Forgiveness is an action where the reality of wrongdoing is acknowledged yet not held as resentment or used negatively towards someone. Grace is more of an attitude than it is an action. Leading with grace means leading with kindness and empathy and showing compassion and understanding. Forgiving with grace means doing so even if that forgiveness wasn’t sought.

Conclusion

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also find the opportunity to include a reference to ‘trust-credits’ as they relate to mistakes. A previous City Administrator I worked for, and consummate-mentor, Scot Simpson of River Falls, Wis., used to talk to me about ‘trust-credits’. In our conversations it was related to how a municipal chief administrative officer earns these credits in different ways with their community, and governing body. Those credits earn you some latitude(s) and grace during times of uncertainty when mistakes are made.

Those ‘trust-credits’ are different for every organization or community. Some ways they are earned are by having tenure in an organization, being an active part of the community, being transparent in all public matters, serving with humility, getting to yes when possible and saying no when necessary, remaining apolitical yet understanding politics, providing options and alternatives, and always being honest.

Finally, when you do make a mistake, make it with AMENDS, and keep on practicing until you catch the ball way more often than you drop it!

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