Mis-takes and Innovation
Rodrigo dos Reis for UnsplashHow to reframe a “mis-take”
I had a great conversation with William Brown of Disconnect to Connect. My One Word Conversation with William was prompted by the word “Mistake”.
First of all, I loved William’s reframing of the word to “mis-take”, which then morphed into “take 2” from the film world, e.g. if we’re not happy with the way we say something the first time.
Then I made the link between mis-takes and innovation. As I mentioned in the Systematic Inspiration webinar I led last week, welcoming mistakes and failure are an important part of creative problem-solving.
Examples of successful mistakes
· Thomas Edison didn’t complain about his failures with the light bulb: “I haven’t failed… I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work”.
· The Post-It Note came about because of a poor adhesive recipe at 3M. But because the company valued perseverance, they supported the group as they sought to find an application for this new type of adhesive.
· The potato chip was invented when a chef at a resort received a complaint from a patron that the French-fried potatoes were too thick and mushy. Out of revenge, the chef sliced the potatoes as thin as he could manage and fried them until they were brown. The exercise in revenge backfired, however – the patron loved the replacement dish and raved about it to family and friends.
The damage caused by focusing on mistakes
Think also about the message you send to staff when mistakes are not used as learning opportunities or pursued as something truly innovative. Do you think the person you chewed out for making the “mistake” will take a risk again in the future? Not a chance. This creates a downward spiral in two ways: 1) fewer creative ideas from that person, which can be “catching” to the rest of the team; and 2) an employee who is less engaged and more disillusioned… and you may have lost one of your key people as a result.
How The Leadership Lab can help reframe mistakes
“The Leadership Lab: Creative Problem-Solving at Work” program is a great forum for discussing how to turn a mis-take into a 2nd take. Through issues that members bring to the table (e.g. productivity, anxiety, revenue, teamworking, processes, staff attrition… and coming up with new ideas), participants will learn about creative problem-solving techniques and how they can be applied to their situation. Click here for more info, and contact me with any questions.
With the right support any individual, team, and organization can learn creative ways to solve problems. I'm hired by visionary organizations to help their teams think in new ways together, and to guide leaders in designing a kickass culture of innovation. Let's have a conversation if you want to see what tapping into creative potential could look like at your place of work. Contact me at Ellia@ThePotentialCenter.com to arrange a call.
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