Make Smarter Mistakes

After the initial fiasco, though, Skadden knew she had to act quickly, or her boss might start to lose faith in her new colleague's judgment. So when the retreat was over, she cornered Beck, acknowledged that the exercise had gone poorly, and apologized: "I told her that I knew I'd screwed up and that I would take a good look at the corporate culture here to make sure it wouldn't happen again." Beck agreed, and the subject was closed. Three years later, Beck reports that she has trouble even remembering the incident.

One important caveat: being candid still requires a certain amount of rhetorical care. Most experts suggest that you avoid using highly charged phrases such as "I screwed up" or "It's all my fault." That much bluntness just might come back to haunt you. "Let the boss know when you've made a mistake, but say it in less potent terms than 'I blew it,'" says Karen Otazo. "Be careful of the soundbites you use, because people will remember them."

In some companies, even those serious about learning from mistakes, the M-word itself is taboo. It simply carries too much baggage. People tend to prefer euphemisms such as "teachable moment." Most of us "are brought up to think of mistakes as a bad thing," says Christopher Hart, 46, a leading customer-service guru and president of the Spire Group, a Brookline, Massachusetts-based consulting firm that advises companies on strengthening customer relationships. With his own staff, Hart uses the term "OFIs" -- opportunities for improvement. "If you categorize something as a mistake," he says, "it's going to take a lot for most people to get beyond that, and that's going to hold them back from learning."

II. If it's your team, it's your mistake.

When Christine Miyachi, 34, manager of the embedded software group at Iris Graphics Inc., a manufacturer of high-end inkjet printers based in Bedford, Massachusetts, found out that the company's about-to-be-released software contained a bug, she was livid. She marched into her boss's office to tell him about the problem. That was a good idea (see rule 1). Then she laid the blame on her group's quality-assurance testers. That was a bad idea. "I thought it was all their fault," she says today. "But the truth was, it was my fault too."

Miyachi was wrong then -- and is right now. If you lead a team or run a business unit and a mistake happens, it's your mistake -- whether or not you had a direct role in creating it. Taking personal responsibility is a basic test of in-the-trenches leadership. The leaders above you don't want to hear excuses, and they certainly don't respect buck-passing. "It's a waste of time," says Frank Bergandi, who manages a staff of 100 people as CEO of Objectivity. "I don't care who made the mistake. I just want to know it's getting fixed."

Indeed, precisely because it's so rare, taking ownership of a mistake is a powerful way to exude a sense of accountability. "You demonstrate that you've got things under control and that you're a leader," says Marilyn Moats Kennedy, 54, a Wilmette, Illinois-based consultant at Career Strategies, whose clients include AT&T and Allstate. "People will forget the mistake, but they'll remember your behavior."

Christopher Hart goes one step further. He argues that individual leaders should take a lesson from companies on the cutting edge of customer service. Hart urges his clients, who range from Harley-Davidson to Deloitte & Touche, to offer "extraordinary" service guarantees to their customers. "You don't guarantee that you'll never make a mistake," he says, "but you do guarantee that your customers will be satisfied with how you correct it. That kind of responsibility can have tremendous impact."

What works for companies and their customers can work for leaders and their colleagues. Who wouldn't want to be known inside an organization as a source of "guaranteed" performance -- especially when it comes to fixing mistakes? Use the inclusive "we," advises Karen Otazo, the executive coach, and you might inspire the people below you to take responsibility too. "If you cast blame, everybody will try to deny problems," she says. "But if you take the high road, your people won't be afraid to surface their mistakes."