What to Do When You Make a Big Mistake
“Mistakes cost money!”, said some grumpy guy a few centuries ago. He was probably in a dark room complaining, ’cause that’s what grumpy guys did back then.
Nowadays this expression is used very often to promote efficiency, prevent waste, and reinforce the opinion that your boss is a dick.
“Mistakes cost money, Brian, don’t you know that? You printed 2 copies of this briefing! IN COLOR!! Are you trying to shut us down??”
So sure, detecting and eliminate inefficiencies and waste is positive, and mistakes are something to avoid.
But can mistakes be a good thing?
The Different kinds of Mistakes
Mistakes aren’t all of the same kind.
There are the tiny ones that don’t cause a big fuss (except to Brian’s boss up there) so we either forget about them in a couple of hours or we use them to break some awkward silence during an elevator ride with the pretty accountant intern.
I just printed 2 copies of the briefing, silly me! I’m going to plant a tree this weekend to make it up with mother nature, do you want to join me in saving planet earth??
(Drop it, Brian. She’s way too young for you and you’re being cringy).
Then there are some mistakes that don’t seem much of a deal to everybody else but that will haunt you forever, and I had my fair share of these suckers.
Like that time when I bought 2 massive outdoor wooden tables from a friend, had to bring them on my back downstairs from his 3rd-floor apartment because they couldn’t fit in the elevator, had to put them up on a van and drive all the way to my place and carry them once again, now to a 2nd floor (no elevator, of course), not without first having to dismantle the legs outside because they wouldn't pass through the building's front door.
15 bucks each, a 2 hours mission, a sharp pain on my back… Worst.Purchase.Ever!
I hate them!
They’re on my terrace serving as a cat scratcher for my cats, and they will make a beautiful fire the day I’ll leave this house!
