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We all make dumb mistakes — it’s just a part of life. Some of these mistakes might stick with you and haunt you to this day. The important thing to pay attention to is how you will respond when you make silly mistakes.
We here at Humanize It have made our share of dumb mistakes. We get it! But, we have learned a lot and grown from those mistakes. The ability to look at those mistakes and celebrate what you got out of them is really important.
As a business owner, if you notice your MSP making little mistakes that should be avoided, you should check in with them. Make sure that they are doing alright. Based on personal experience, sleep deprivation can be a huge cause of making dumb mistakes. Make sure your MSP is not overworking and is getting enough sleep in order to have the right amount of energy for the tasks they have ahead of them. If they are getting enough sleep, look deeper. See what the cause of these mistakes could be and if there is anything you can do about it. If there isn’t anything that can be done specifically, you might just need to express the need to be more careful and mindful with the work they are doing.
The most important aspect of making mistakes is being able to learn from them. And, in order to do that, you have to be open about your mistakes. Engineers, this one is for you. If you are prone to hide your mistakes instead of bringing them into the open, you will not be able to learn and grow from those mistakes. You need to be open about what is happening or the problems you’re experiencing. This will allow other engineers and MSPs to be open as well. People look up to the engineers, and being open and leading by example will only help the team as a whole.
If you’re a business owner, it is critical that you invite mistakes and allow your team to fail in order for them to grow. If you cultivate a culture of fear of failure, people will walk on eggshells when something goes wrong. Investigate the culture of your work place and make sure that you allow people to open up. It is also great for you to lead by example, as well, and share your mistakes and what you have learned from them.
The last thing to know about mistakes is there is a difference between dumb mistakes and incompitancy. If you notice one of your engineers is consistently making the same mistakes over and over again, they might not know what they are doing. Check in with them and see what is going on. If you find out that they don’t know how to do the job fully, it is time to either train them in that area or find someone that knows how to do the job better.
Dumb mistakes happen to everyone. Look at the people making these mistakes and see how they are doing. Are they aware they are making mistakes? How are you dealing with these mistakes? Is your environment conducive to learning and are your employees taken care of? Ultimately, there is an opportunity to let dumb mistakes make you smarter!