Goofing
The Blunder continues, even though by now I have called it to the attention of hundreds of our top leaders. The trouble is that no one wants to admit that a big blunder has occurred. Here is what I wrote several years ago.
I Goof! You Goof! We All Goof!
Bosses are constantly plagued with subordinates who come to them with complaints such as “My assistant Jack didn’t keep the drains clean like I told him to do last summer and as a result we had 10 roof leaks that caused damage to over $30,000 of merchandise. I gave Jack heck for not following my instructions.”
But wait, whose fault is it really?
The Boss’ Answer: I appreciate your efforts and concern for our loss, but in this case you goofed in not properly supervising and training Jack. If you don’t admit you goofed, how can I have any confidence in your work in the future? I too have goofed in not supervising you properly, and we should get together this afternoon and review your procedures.
Don’t be a goofer who
is too arrogant or too proud to believe they could make a mistake
always blames the other person, never themselves
lies, is biased, or twists the “facts” to justify their denial
never tries anything for fear of being blamed for failure and thus lets profitable opportunities pass by
To make the world a better place to live in and for you to succeed “and sit on top of the world,” we need people who can say:
It was my responsibility and I goofed!
I have excuses for this blunder but none good enough to excuse me.
I failed this time but I will learn from my mistake and do better in the future.
Trial and error is still a basic way of making progress and fear of failure will not stop me from trying innovative and creative activities.
For complex problems and decisions, I will learn and follow the complete method of creative problem solving (SM-14) to help reduce my failures and make greater progress.
