Why do my team make mistakes, and what can I do about it - Cultivated Management newsletter
Hi,
Welcome to this week's Cultivated Management newsletter.
A popular question I received at the last survey about Cultivated Management content, was around your teams making mistakes. Thanks for all of your feedback.
A number of readers have teams with clear visions and measures around where they are heading, yet their teams keep making lots of little mistakes on the way there. You were asking how to deal with this.
So here are a number of ways to deal with team members who make mistakes.
A mistake is an opportunity to learn
Every single mistake is nothing more than an opportunity to learn. It's a chance to make the company, product or team better.
It depends whether you take the opportunity to learn or whether it's brushed aside and allowed to continue as is.
One thing I implemented early in my career was the 5 Whys. In a nutshell you ask "why?" a number of times to get to the root cause of an issue. There are plenty of guides on the internet to 5 whys, there are also many other ways of getting to the root cause.
This worked for us. Tiny mistakes don't need this level of inquiry but big mistakes would. And not only would we get to the root cause and see how to address that, but we would look at each and every level of "why" and see how we could have prevented, measured, alerted or learned at that level too. We still run them, they still solve problems, the team still make mistakes. Mistakes are part of pushing boundaries.
A mistake is always the difference between what you expected to happen and what happened - take the chance to study the gap and find solutions to the difference.
Mistakes can be a result of management and the system that people work in
Why is the mistake being made?
People don't set out to make basic mistakes. People don't do it on purpose. Most people don't like making obvious mistakes.
So why is it happening?
In my experience the majority of basic and obvious mistakes (not those from pushing boundaries) are made because of management or the system people are working in.
Do they have too much work?
Is there confusion?
Do they have the right budget to get work done?
Are they clear about what is needed?
Are they getting feedback about on-going tiny mistakes that compound to a major problem?
Do they have the right information?
Are they trusted and do they feel they can make the right decisions, or are the mistakes a result of poor decision making?
Do they have the right support?
Are they stressed and burning/browning out?
All of the above belong to management.
How would you like your manager to react to mistakes you make?
If you were in the same situation and you made a mistake how would you like your manager to react?
I always advocate that managers should manage in the way they would like to be managed and create teams they would love to work in. So how would you like mistakes to be handled by your manager.
This will help you to work out what to do and make the right decisions. Most managers make management decisions that look upwards (i.e. what should I do in the eyes of my boss) and that might be a really bad thing for your team.
Is the same mistake being made?
Making a mistake is ok - it's a chance to learn.
Making the same mistake again suggests no learning took place.
Making the same mistake for a third time is the path to ruin.
It's important to ensure you find the reasons for the mistake and put in place actions. This could be learning and on-the-job training (the best solution usually), more support, more systems (yikes), more process (urgh), more flow (not maxing out capacity), more freedom, more feedback or many other solutions.
Make it safe to make mistakes
The worst thing you can do when someone makes a mistake is to create fear around it.
Don't panic (no matter how big the mistake), don't humiliate or punish or publicly scold them, don't belittled them, don't joke about it (unless that is a safe norm in your team).
If the person who made the mistake feels like they will get shouted at or humilated or treated badly they will do everything within their power to not make mistakes - and this results in disengagement and a massive lack of innovation.
Innovation is the key to more productivity - trust me. Getting more from less is the mantra with most managers and execs. It's not sustainable and it's often in-humane - it drives people to avoid making mistakes (ironically I often find more mistakes are made in a bid to avoid them). It's a command and control activity.
"Is there a better way of doing things?" is a much better approach to management - it's the way I approach management - and it will always involve mistakes being made.
Give Feedback, but make sure they are ok
Sometimes people just make mistakes.
It happens - we're all human and sometimes we just make mistakes. It's very rare you have to give someone feedback about a mistake. If you've got the right people in your team they will know they have made a mistake. They will take it seriously. They will dwell on it, work out how to prevent it happening again and be passionate about making things right. If you have the right people they will not need reminding of their mistake.
If you don't have the right people...one for another post.
Sometimes people make mistakes because they are distracted, unhappy, bored, stressed, etc. Are you sure they are ok? Is there something happening outside of work? Are they ok?
Speak to them and find out - it could be they're just not "there" at the moment. Mistakes often happen because of distraction.
The oppotunity for mistake must match the ability and level of control
Mistakes really are good - they are an opportunity to learn and they mean you're growing, pushing boundaries and getting stuff done.
However, many mistakes are avoidable by ensuring the right people are allowed to make them. Don't allow people to make mistakes that are above their skill level or level of control.
For example, a new member of the team probably shouldn't be tinkering around with the live database without proper support, training or knowledge. New members of the team probably shouldn't be doing live releases without knowing how to roll back or get help if it goes wrong. New support engineers probably shouldn't be dealing with your largest churn risk customer without knowledge, experience and support.
Your job as a manager is to ensure the right people have the right levels of mistakability as I call it. People will, and should, make mistakes - it's how you grow, innovate and push forward. But that level of mistakability should be in line with their experience and levels of control and seriousness of the impact. They should know "roughly" what they are doing and how to push past their current knowledge level, and if they make a mistake the consequences should be in line with their responsibility. They should also be able to control and/or influence those around them when things go wrong.
It's a fine line. There is no right answer. There is only relative judgement - and that relative judgement comes from you.
All mistakes are yours
The most important thing for managers when mistakes are made - they all belong to you.
If someone in your team makes a mistake - that is yours to own. Don't shirk responsibility. Don't blame others. Don't get angry with them. You hired them. You put them in the place they are in. You allowed them to work in the way they work. You are in charge of training your team. You are responsible for their outcomes. And the system they work in is almost entirely yours to improve.
A great manager allows people to make mistakes, ensures everyone learns from the mistake, improves the system, takes the heat when things go wrong and creates an environment where people can thrive and make mistakes. It's damn hard work. But when it works - it's truly amazing.
Book of the week
This week I've been reading "Turning Pro" by Steven Pressfield. Long time readers will know I'm a major fan of "Do the Work" and the "War of Art". Both amazingly insightful books by Steven Pressfield about fighting the resistance that tries to stop you creating your work.
I lose my creative mojo often (I guess it's a sign of age and most certainly linked to stress). And everytime I do, I read one of Steven Pressfield's books, and my creative mojo comes back.
Turning Pro is different to the other two books and on first reading I wasn't blown away. But the stories, messages and insights are all there. I think it's the writing style in this book versus the other two - it feels more formal. And it felt less powerful for it.
Still a good book, still strong insights in to how to beat resistance. If you've read the other two - then it's still a good rounding of the idea. If you haven't read the other two books - start there. They really are exceptional for those facing the insidious resistance to creating work or art or your calling in life.
Go forth and make mistakes. And fight the resistance.
Until next week.
Rob..