Do You Systematically Examine Your Mistakes?

[jyl]

Do you systematically examine your mistakes in an attempt to improve?

In my business, close to half (but hopefully less than half) of one's decisions will usually be mistakes. Reducing that mistake rate from 47% to 42% can make the difference between being mediocre to being good. And it is very clear what decisions were mistakes. So, at the end of every year, I go back over the past 12 months and try to analyze what I did wrong. I'm trying to do it more systematically. I'm calculating the % of decisions that were correct vs wrong; the average gain from the correct ones vs the average loss from the wrong ones; the market sectors and environments in which my correct vs error ratio was better or worse. I'm grouping my mistakes into categories defined by the underlying behaviour, and seeing which behaviours I am most prone to and which cost me the most money. And I'm identifying the major strategies and calls I made during the year, which one were right and wrong, and which ones I correctly implemented vs screwed up.

This year was a pleasant year to do this analysis, because we had a great year and the metrics are attractive to see. Other years, not so much. I think I need to start running this analysis quarterly, not just annually.

Do you guys do this? What method works for you? Do you do this analysis for others you work with? How can you do that without triggering a blame game?

[porsche4life]

I systematically analyze everything.... Kind of a killer in a relationship actually....

[LWJ]

John,

I sort of do. However, in my line of work (sales) one can always just pick up the phone and move to the next prospect. There is a certain "whats behind you donta matter" to it.

Larry

[m21sniper]

What's done is done is my view on things. If there are obvious lessons to be learned i will certainly file them away, but i don't sweat the details very often. Civilians like us have the luxury of living this way (such an attitude for a soldier is often fatal). I really find this approach helps to keep me sane while navigating my way through life.

[speeder]

John, what do you do?


(If you don't mind saying).

[911Rob]

to answer your question. no.
learn from them and move on.

Best thing a parent can teach their children is 'how to fail'.

[azasadny]

Yep, I do. that's how I learn from my mistakes...

[schamp]

I am trying to figure out how anyone could be wrong 42% or more of the time and still have a job. You could flip a coin and make those numbers.

[Jim Richards]

Us management weenies never make mistakes.

I revisit my strategies for managing my staff every couple of weeks and make (hopefully minor) adjustments to my approach based on how well the people do their asignments or if unexpected difficulties arise. I also review how well I'm managing my staff bi-annually.

[jyl]

Denis, PM'd you. schamp, the "being right/being wrong" percentages do seem peculiar, it is the nature of the business, which is competing against other people. There is also another part of the equation, which is (hopefully) "gaining more when you are right/losing less when you are wrong". If you can skew the right/wrong ratio and the gain/loss ratio, the net result can be useful. Jim, bi-annual would be a good start for me, I may try that.

[GH85Carrera]

I thought I made a mistake once but I was wrong

[cashflyer]

Examine them? No.
I dwell on them. Usually to the point of being psychologically crippled by them. Booze helps.

[Seahawk]

The culture I grew up in flying for the navy demanded a systematic examination of both positives and mistakes. Every flight is debriefed, every mistake looked at for future improvement...it is not for the thin skinned.

As a business owner working on a new Unmanned Air System (UAS), I insist on a risk-based program approach, including Action Tracker assignments, due dates, sub vendor plans, etc. ad nausea.

The key is to practice what you preach with repeatable, known reviews on a timely basis.

Lastly, everyone in the company knows bad news doesn't smell better with age, and we don't kill the messenger.

In my personal life?

Nah.

[Rick V]

Yup. A mistake by me at work could end in someone getting killed. I try for zero mistakes. Fortunately I catch 99.9% of my mistakes before they get out on the road.

[RPKESQ]

Yes I do with all actions or decisions that have more risk or risk with signifficant negative impact. Both project management and ITIL have established review, analysis and improvenment methodologies that I utilize on a daily basis.

[Hugh R]

I do motion picture and television production safety. So yes absolutely. Also, the human/mechanical interaction that we often perform is not necessarily dangerous (it usually isn't), but has never been done before. Rehearsals and dry runs are a very big part of our industry. I also interact with my colleagues at the other studios a lot on how they have handled XYZ in the past. At our levels, we aren't competitors. We also share good and bad experiences with Stunt Coordinators, Special Effects people, etc.

[asphaltgambler]

Yes I do ............... both professional and personal.............................more often than I'd like to admit

[Jim Bremner]

Nah,

My wife does that for me!


I'm a traveling sales rep. 9 times out of 10 when i'm driving away from the contact I'm drilling myself what I did right and where can I improve.

[Dave L]

In anything I have ever done I can systematically identify every error or mistake that I have made. It doesnt matter how minor it is it will still bug me. I also tend to play out conversations I have had over and over again (usually at 2 or 3 am) thinking about how I could have said something different and how it might have affected the conversation.

[nostatic]

I don't make mistakes. I change the metrics.