Do We Need To Make Mistakes?

A good buddy of mine told me many, many times that he had to make mistakes to learn. He went on and told me, "We all need to make big mistakes so we can become better." He usually pontificated that point shortly after he failed at something, vowing he would never make that mistake again. And sometimes, he lived up to that promise.

I think our approach toward mistakes should be this:

1) Always own up to and learn from your mistakes so you never repeat them.
But even better:
2) Learn from other people's mistakes so you don't make the same ones they did.

It's not magic or some top-secret thing--we can learn from others (both the good and the not-so-good) every minute of the day by observing, reading, listening and asking questions.

It comes down to being a student--of yourself and of others. Mistakes happen every day and we will all make them. But if you can learn from others and avoid a mistake they've made, why not do that?

It's great to learn from your mistakes. It's even better to never have made that mistake in the first place.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & beyond
www.labov.com
www.labovsaleschannel.com

Get ahead of it

It's not easy to deal with tough situations. You can feel the weight on your shoulders or the pain in your gut. You can hear the pain in others by the quiver in their voice or by the way they become "small" and almost disappear.

What we don't fully appreciate, though, is how difficult it is facing every day with that issue hanging over you. What can you do?

You can get ahead of the problem.

Much of the time our frustration and paralysis about an ongoing problem is based on the past--what happened, what didn't or isn't working, etc. We're living, to an extent, in the past. If we can muster up the courage to make a decision, a change that will position us for the future, all of sudden, the weight is off our shoulders and our voice doesn't quiver.

Business can be tough. Tough decisions are hard. But avoiding the decisions only makes things worse.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
www.labovsaleschannel.com

Playing in the Sandbox

With a downsized economy also comes another important talent needed for companies to succeed:

Being able to play in the sandbox with others.

Many large corporations have employees who need to stay busy. They are now being assigned to duties that used to be the responsibility of suppliers. In the past, a supplier could play "hardball" and demand they were in charge of all that work. Now, for suppliers to thrive, they have to be willing to share responsibilities and collaborate with internal departments.

This development is ultimately a good thing. The corporation can learn which suppliers are truly dedicated as partners and which ones are merely trying to protect their turf.

It's critical to get along in the sandbox, because as the economy has shrunk, the sandbox has become smaller.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
www.labovsaleschannel.com