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By Alan Norton August 2, 2011, 2:11 PM PDT Takeaway: Mistakes are inevitable. But as Allan Norton explains, certain laws govern how we deal with them, learn from them, conceal them, and even profit from them. For something so certain, so common, and so potentially destructive, mistakes remain a mystery. Why do we make them? Why do we repeat them? These 10 laws will give you a better understanding of what mistakes are and how to best deal with them.
Ignorance of the law excuses no man John Selden Likewise, not knowing a system feature or behavior that leads to a mistake cannot be used as an excuse. I learned VB transaction processing to speed up the loading of data into a remote database. Unfortunately, I was unaware of the consequences of processing large numbers of transactions before committing the records. The network crashed and I owned up to my mistake. It may have been an unintentional mistake, but pleading ignorance wouldnt have changed the fact that I was responsible for crashing the network.
Will I take unnecessary and dangerous risks to correct my mistake? Am I in over my head and need help? Can I fix this problem without making it worse?
You are more prone to make bad decisions when under a large amount of stress. The last thing you want in a career-defining moment is a comedy of errors. Stay calm, remain levelheaded, and take the time you need to avoid additional mistakes.
Law #7: Mistakes made with computers propagate faster and cause more damage
Computers have enabled people to make more mistakes faster than almost any invention in history, with the possible exception of tequila and hand guns. Mitch Ratcliffe Oh, the power you wield as an IT professional! You have the power to damage so much with the smallest of mistakes. Use an OR instead of an AND or put a decimal point in the wrong place, and all kinds of bad things can happen. The work you do is supercharged once it is run on a computer. The pressures to produce perfection are enormous. Since we all make mistakes, the only reasonable course is to take great care in the proofreading and testing of your work before turning it on to the world.
I never worry about action, but only about inaction. - Winston Churchill As you get older, you begin to realize the mistakes you have made by not asking out your high school sweetheart, not fighting for what is right, or any number of other what-if situations. Similarly, you may secondguess not getting that certification, not taking that project lead position, or other decisions of inaction you have made on the job. The tragedy is that these decisions are often life-altering. Equally tragic, whether they were mistakes or not may become obvious only in the clarity of hindsight. Other mistakes of inaction are clearer to identify as true mistakes:
Failing to communicate Failing to research in detail Failing to analyze thoroughly Failing to test all possible outcomes Failing to perform root cause analysis
When you make a mistake for the first time, you either recognize it or you dont. If you recognize it, you fix it if you can. Its a fairly simple process. The second time you are presented with a similar situation, you must first recognize the situation, remember the mistake you made, and then change your behavior. Fail at any of those three decision points and you will repeat the mistake. That is a more complex process and the reason why we repeat our mistakes.
My favorite mistake is the intentional one. Navajo rug makers include a small imperfection called a spirit string to allow the spirit that they have put into the work to escape and because only God is perfect. Lest we forget, this is perhaps the greatest mistake quote of all: To err is human, to forgive divine. Alexander Pope. And the world could use a little less human and a little more divine right now.