While working on a recent project,
two ‘mistakes’ happened.
One was HUGE.
It was brand damaging.
When the person who made the mistake
found out it WAS a mistake,
she was horrified and profusely apologetic.
Although the other mistake was not-as-major,
it was still damaging to the project.
However, this team member
knew BEFORE making the mistake,
it would have negative consequences.
How did she know this?
Because she’d made the same mistake before.
I was more concerned
about the second, more minor mistake
than the first.
Yes, we had to go into crisis mode
and quickly fix the major mistake,
but mistakes happen.
The team member is wiser now.
I doubt it will happen again.
I can’t say that about the second mistake.
I suspect the intent
was to sabotage the project,
and I have zero tolerance for that.
I won’t be working with that team member again.
When your team members make mistakes
and they WILL make mistakes,
look at WHY the mistake was made.
That is often more important
than the mistake itself.