Mistakes

Mistakes Were Made

I spent the past month juggling the schedules of three potential clients.  To make the projects work I needed to purchase a complicated airline itinerary.  I have been waiting to make the final purchase of the ticket in order to get confirmation from each party.  What I forgot to do was to keep everyone informed and communicate constantly.  One long-term client engaged another consultant for a portion of their project.  They needed certainty and wanted to lock in the dates.  Although I was committed I forgot to reassure the client that they were a priority.  Nothing I can do now but remind myself that more communication is better than less, even if it is not definitive. 

Are you communicating constantly?

Mistake to
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I find the results of this survey to be enlightening.  Jim Joyce is a baseball umpire who missed a call at first base that would have been the final out in a perfect game.  Armando Galarraga the pitcher is seen in the picture below making the play that resulted in the mistaken call. 



The poll at the top of the post shows that despite a mistake, it was the integrity with which Jim Joyce dealt with the blown call that did not cause a major backlash to his reputation.  Once Jim saw the replay of the call he went to the locker room and apologized directly to the pitcher who accepted his apology.  He addressed the error by making a very honest and emotional statement to the press.



Mistakes happen.  How you address missteps and take corrective action says a lot about an organization’s values.  How does your organization deal with errors?  Do you enhance a relationship or create a greater divide?