Quote of the Day: Mistakes

 

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

“Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

“So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

“Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

“Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” ― Neil Gaiman

Avoiding mistakes is overrated. It has always been my view that the only way you can move forward is by trying new things, and in trying new things you are bound to make mistakes.

When I was a task lead back in the Shuttle Program in the mid-1980 I used to tell my reports “If you are not making a least one mistake a day, you are not working hard enough. The only thing I ask is that you make a different mistake each day. That means you are learning.”

This was in a research group. Other task leads became obsessed with avoiding mistakes. Their groups lagged. My people were consistently, over a three year period, the highest-rated in the department. Other leads thought that unfair. My group kept making mistakes while theirs were mistake-free. And yet somehow we were more successful.

There is nothing wrong with an honest mistake. Just make different ones each day. Be original.

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  1. CB Toder aka Mama Toad Member
    CB Toder aka Mama Toad
    @CBToderakaMamaToad

    Love it. My life is full of mistakes, but I try not to make the same ones over and over!

    • #1
  2. Mim526 Inactive
    Mim526
    @Mim526

    May not be possible in every occupation, but what a gift:  the freedom to fail…and keep on failing until you get it just right.

    • #2
  3. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    You don’t have to worry about me and mistakes. I got it covered but thanks.

    • #3
  4. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Seawriter: The only thing I as is that you make a different mistake each day.

    Seawriter: My group kept making mistakes while their’s were mistake-free.

    So, you wrote this over two days? ? ? ?

    • #4
  5. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    I shouldn’t have pointed those out in public. My mistake. ?

    • #5
  6. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    This was very much a factor in my work writing software.  I was well known for charging in, getting into a box and then needing to rip the whole thing apart, and rearrange code.  But I was consistently faster at getting to the end.

    • #6
  7. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Seawriter: The only thing I as is that you make a different mistake each day.

    Seawriter: My group kept making mistakes while their’s were mistake-free.

    So, you wrote this over two days? ? ? ?

    Nah. Those were one mistake. I normally don’t let QOTD sit for a couple of days before posting. Therefore when I re-read them I see what I intended to write instead of what I really wrote.

    • #7
  8. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Seawriter:This was in a research group. Other task leads became obsessed with avoiding mistakes. Their groups lagged. My people were consistently, over a three year period, the highest-rated in the department. Other leads thought that unfair. My group kept making mistakes while theirs were mistake-free. And yet somehow we were more successful.

    I appreciate your sentiment and applaud it in the proper context. I managed in research, development, and operational environments. The results and the costs of mistakes are very different and certainly being obsessed with avoiding mistakes means a lot more in operations where money, well-being, and lives are at stake. The evaluation approach to performance with regard to mistakes is not the same.

     

     

    • #8
  9. She Member
    She
    @She

    CB Toder aka Mama Toad (View Comment):
    Love it. My life is full of mistakes, but I try not to make the same ones over and over!

    Yes!  That’s the corollary to what it says in the OP about making a different mistake each day.  I try to live by both of those rules. I don’t think that’s one of my mistakes.

    • #9
  10. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    I’m a doctor.  I don’t make mistakes.  I thought I made a mistake once, but I was mistaken.

    • #10
  11. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Theoretically I know you’re right. But I still don’t like to make mistakes. Now, at least, I get over them faster. That’s progress for me.

    • #11
  12. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    I’m a doctor. I don’t make mistakes. I thought I made a mistake once, but I was mistaken.

    And no doubt you also tell your patients, “No, that medicine can’t do that.”

    Patient: “But, doc, it’s on the label that it can.”

    Doctor: “No, the pharmacies just put that on, and you shouldn’t have read it. You’re obviously susceptible to suggestion.”

    • #12
  13. Vectorman Inactive
    Vectorman
    @Vectorman

    Seawriter: This was in a research group. Other task leads became obsessed with avoiding mistakes. Their groups lagged.

    When I was in a research group, it was frustrating finishing a project but having it go nowhere. In a development group, time was critical, but most projects got shipped to the customer. I still liked research best.


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    • #13
  14. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    I’m a doctor. I don’t make mistakes. I thought I made a mistake once, but I was mistaken.

    No your mistakes are handled by the undertaker.  Convenient.

    • #14
  15. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    PHCheese (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    I’m a doctor. I don’t make mistakes. I thought I made a mistake once, but I was mistaken.

    No your mistakes are handled by the undertaker. Convenient.

    And nobody who can tell about it.

    • #15
  16. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    I’m against it.  If I make the right (or wrong) kind of mistake, I can put the company I work for out of business.

    • #16
  17. Boss Mongo Member
    Boss Mongo
    @BossMongo

    Seawriter: “So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

    Here.  Hold my beer…

    • #17
  18. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Randy Webster (View Comment):
    I’m against it. If I make the right (or wrong) kind of mistake, I can put the company I work for out of business.

    Context is everything.

    • #18
  19. Bryan Van Blaricom Member
    Bryan Van Blaricom
    @BryanVanBlaricom

    Or, as expressed by Gazelle: Try Everything

    • #19
  20. Mim526 Inactive
    Mim526
    @Mim526

    Bryan Van Blaricom (View Comment):
    Or, as expressed by Gazelle: Try Everything

    Cute!  I hadn’t seen Zootopia.

    • #20
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