RULE 12

Let them make mistakes

There is an old Chinese saying that goes something like this: ‘Tell me and I’ll remember for an hour; show me and I’ll remember for a day; but let me do it and I’ll remember for ever.’ Fair enough. And if you are going to let people do it then they are going to do it badly at first. They are going to make mistakes. And you are going to let them.

If you are a parent you know the agonizing thing you go through with a 2-year-old who insists they can pour their own drink – and then proceeds to spill most of it on the table. You stand by with a cloth behind your back because you know that:

• they are going to spill it
• it is you who is going to have to mop it up
• the spilling process is important and you have to let them do it and they will progress to not spilling but only once they have got the spilling out of the way first.

As a parent you do that wonderful hovering thing, ready to grab the juice if it is going to spill too much, or grab the cup if it is going over, or even grab the child if they are going to fall off the chair due to such intense concentration.

I’m not saying members of your team are like small children – well, I am actually but don’t tell them – but it is imperative you learn to let them do the spilling if they are to progress. Make sure you have your cloth behind your back ready to mop up after them.

And after each spillage you don’t tell them off. Instead you offer praise – ‘Well done, brilliant job, incredible progress.’ Try not to let them see the cloth or the mopping up.