Comments on: The Power of Making Mistakes

By: John Williams

John Williams — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 06:03:06 +0000

Edison the inventor of the light bulb, among many other things, has a terrific quote on making mistakes:

“I have not failed, not once. I’ve discovered ten thousand ways that don’t work.”

I also think this ties in with having an open mind. In my opinion a closed mind is a symptom of being afraid of making a mistake. An open mind is being open to being wrong, trying new things and even appearing foolish. Even Edison was considered a crank in his day by close-minded individuals afraid of making mistakes and/or looking foolish. Visionaries like Edison with their ability to view things differently as the quote above illustrates are the open minded entrepreneurs who change the world, generally for the better.

By: philippine literature

philippine literature — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:51:06 +0000

amazing

By: used tires

used tires — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:38:54 +0000

I think I first learned about accepting mistakes, and learning that making mistakes is okay from Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Poor Dad, Rich Dad. It was really a powerful lesson for myself personally

Till then,

Jean

By: Mike King

Mike King — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:58:04 +0000

Sure thing Matt. As long as you provide a link to credit the article on your site so people know where it come from, feel free to copy it.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:46:03 +0000

Hi. I’m french. Your comment can interest lot of people in France. So, if you are ok, i can copy the subject on a french blog.

By: Laura

Laura — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:25:14 +0000

Lately I have been making a lot of mistakes at work, part of it is trying something new and it turning out the wrong way and part of it is my own forgetfulness. I’ve been trying to write things down to keep from forgetting but it seems like no matter what I do, I can’t stay ahead. Does anyone have any tips for making small improvements that can have big returns?

By: david

david — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:49:06 +0000

Hi Mike,

How appropriate that I find this post. I have just setup my new blog/website which I call “the DoHE” which stands for ‘the Database for Human Errors’. My vision is that it serve as an online repository to document our mistakes in life. One criteria for entering a mistake is that the root problem be identified as well as how to prevent the mistake from happening again.

By: Mike King

Mike King — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:48:19 +0000

That is a great quote, thanks Alik. Related to this, at a monthly meeting I hold with my engineering team at work, we each tell something we’ve learned from in the past month and just outline it as a solution we’ve found or something we’ve learned from a mistake. Most of those items are from mistakes and are hugely valuable to the team. Its a great thing to encourage people to share and learn from!

By: Alik Levin | Practice This

Alik Levin | Practice This — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:19:24 +0000

I like the topic. Here is my favorite quote that resonates with it for me:

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/recently-i_was_asked_if_i_was_going_to_fire_an/264910.html

“Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?”
Thomas J. Watson , founder of IBM

I also like “fail fast” approach. It is about moving toward full engagement no matter what. If i succeed then fine, otherwise i fail and I’d know why. Next time i will be trained not to fail