JS Tip 36: From the Team Building Workshops: Making Mistakes.

Big Bird once said, “Everyone makes mistakes, so why can't you?”

Everyone. 

Sales. Accounting. CEO's. Human Resources. Everyone.

A few weeks ago we tipped, “It’s not the crime; it’s the cover-up” when dealing with the public and the media. Dealing with others, inside or outside an organization, works the same way.

When you make a mistake, the best course of action is to take ownership, apologize sincerely, fix what needs to be fixed, and move on.

Covering it up, passing the buck, or lying about your mistakes makes things worse. Not only is it unethical, but it could carry more severe consequences. Think of Enron, Bernie Madoff, and Tiger Woods. 

That being said: We made a mistake. Look at last week’s tip. We wrote “When we say ‘I feel bad,’ we’re saying we’ve have been hurt.”

“We've have been hurt”?

“We’ve have”?

What?

We're embarrassed. You deserve better. We'll will do better. (We intended that typo [“We’ll will . . . .”] to be funny.) Let us know your thoughts, feedback, and frustrations. We're happy to serve you.