I used to start each university class by writing, “make misstakes” on the board. The misspelling was intentional. I wanted to encourage my Japanese students to push themselves to the extent that they would make mistakes. I would tell them that making mistakes in writing shows you are expanding your skills, and, when identified by a fellow student or the professor, mistakes are a great way to learn.
Now that I run a business, I still expect mistakes, for making mistakes is how we learn about to innovate and offer new products to our customers.
Careless mistakes, however, are the bane of design and marketing companies. For example, sending a file to a printer with a typo or misspelling is like throwing money out the window.
Over the years, we have developed procedures and policies to avoid the (costly) mistakes. They include:
- Requiring client approval, even if the last change was just adding a comma, before anything is printed
- Requiring review of all products by at least two sets of eyes Kona Impact prior to finalizing
- List of procedures for all equipment use
- Regular meetings to discuss mistakes we have made and how we can prevent them
- A culture of accepting mistakes as learning opportunities
- Keeping equipment is proper working order
- Replacing cutting blades frequently. This is a big way to reduce cutting mistakes
In the end, mistakes are often made when employees or clients are in a rush, unfocused or simply not attentive to their work. Find ways to help employees overcome these issues, and careless mistakes will decrease.
And, yes, the inspiration for today’s blog came from my lunch today: