We all make make mistakes

I don't do things like this on purpose just to create illustrations and examples. But last week, as I was writing away on my new book project about learning from mistakes, I make this small mistake, a “slip” as they might call it.

We all make make mistakes. I mean, we all make mistakes.

It makes me chuckle when I make a mistake related to writing about mistakes (in this case, the double “make make”). I often slip up by typing “mistkae” (and autocorrect usually fixes it).

I'm glad that Grammarly is a tool that helps me catch mistakes like the one shown in the image. It's an example of automated inspection as opposed to pure “mistake proofing,” which might prevent a mistake from even happening, but it helps. It prevents the mistake / defect from getting through to the customer, so there's value in that.

We compare that to a process for sending medications to a patient in a hospital and maybe ask two key questions related to this or any process:

1) Can we prevent mistakes from being made by people or automation (wrong medication, wrong dose)?

2) If we can't prevent the mistake, can we make sure we catch 100% of the mistakes in an automated way?

How do you see this applying in your workplace?

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Mark Graban
Mark Graban

Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker, and podcaster with experience in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups.

Mark's latest book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation, a recipient of the Shingo Publication Award.

He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean.

Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.

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