The Mistakes That Make Us: Read a Free Book Preview
When someone tells you about a mistake, your response can influence whether you hear about the next one. Blame may end the conversation quickly. Learning takes more work, but it gives us a chance to prevent the problem from happening again.
That is one of the questions I explore in The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. You can read the Introduction and Chapter 1 in the free preview before deciding whether the book is right for you.
Start with a situation you recognize
Think about a recent mistake at work. What made it easier–or harder–for someone to admit what happened? Did the discussion lead to a change, or mainly to a warning to be more careful?
Those questions give you something concrete to bring to the sample. The book connects personal stories with the leadership practices and working conditions that help people learn and improve.
A few of the stories behind the book
Conversations on My Favorite Mistake helped shape the book. The original introduction includes a Toyota leader whose mistake affected the paint on 100 cars, an aide whose words ended up in USA Today, and a distiller who over-aged 100 barrels of whiskey.
The interesting part is what happened after the mistake became visible. How did leaders respond? What did people learn? What made it possible to talk about the experience rather than hide it? The preview begins that exploration without asking you to commit to the whole book.
Learning requires more than admitting a mistake
A useful response starts with understanding what happened and addressing any immediate harm. Then we need to ask what we can change and how we will know whether it helped. Being kind does not remove accountability; it can make an honest discussion of responsibility and improvement more possible.
For two workplace examples, see the Value Capture and KaiNexus excerpts.
Read a sample, then decide
Use the preview to explore the book's approach to learning, accountability, and improvement. The complete stories and broader discussion are in the book.
You can explore the book and available editions, or learn about bringing these conversations to your leadership event.
This post originally announced the preview in May 2023. The book is now published; the buttons above lead to the current preview request form.
