Making mistakes at work is normal, and oftentimes a necessary part of growth. However, mistakes are only an opportunity for growth if we make a conscious effort to learn from them.

Indeed, this can be a valuable attribute to be embraced as part of your company culture.

How can you make learning from mistakes as part of your company culture?

Here are 3 key principles you can apply, using the 3 I's:

• Identify
• Improve
• Illustrate

1. Identify

To actually learn from mistakes, we first need to make the effort to identify what the mistakes were as a starting point.

Sounds simple and straightforward, but more often than not, we tend to get too caught up with the 'mess' from the mistakes without actually knowing what the mistakes were, the root causes rather than symptoms.

Adding to this, we as humans tend to be naturally defensive about our mistakes, with tendencies to hide them when they occur which may end up making them worse.

Only by taking ownership and responsibility of our mistakes can we truly begin learning from them.

2. Improve

After identifying the mistakes, the next step would be to determine what can be done to improve on them moving forward.

In other words, how can we do better next time with the lessons learned and avoid repeating the same mistakes?

For example, if the mistakes were due to forgetting important work tasks, consider creating a to-do-list with set reminders to better navigate this in the future.

If need be, you can also do a post-mortem on this with your manager and team in planning and executing an appropriate action plan together on learning from the mistakes made.

3. Illustrate

You need to illustrate this in practice, setting an example for others if you are serious about instilling learning from mistakes as part of your company culture.

This is important, even more so if you are a leader in the organisation as you lead by example for others to follow.

By being open yourself with your mistakes, you not only encourage others to open up about their mistakes as well, but also help in promoting a safe space for everyone to learn from each other's mistakes.

Concluding remarks

By applying the 3 I's, you can make learning from mistakes a valuable norm as part of your company culture in supporting everyone's growth.

Noted that mistakes at work can be discouraging at times, especially costly ones. Be supportive with one another in navigating this as we work on doing better together.

If you are making mistakes at work, it means you are trying and actually putting effort. Don't give up!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Culturedation specialises in Company Culture Advisory and Workshops, helping you align your Company Culture with your Business.

Feel free to browse our Guides section for more useful company culture resources.

Keen to discover how you can unlock your sales and people's potential with your company culture?

Connect with us now:

• Email: yoursuccess(at)culturedation.com
• LinkedIn: Follow us here

And let's start your journey together.