It’s a 100%, no-mistake reality in the world of business. So preach it and stick to your guns. Processes are up for debate…followed by acceptance or not. Once accepted, implementation should be 100%. OR ELSE! That’s the gist of this Mario Pretorius tip on how to deal with the problem of mistakes. GK
Preach the 100% world.
My darling eldest daughter boasted of her 93% maths test score – she is 12. Great, I replied, but what would happen if Dr. Lumart lost 7% of his patients? Or if daddy missed only 93% of all the cars on the road to the farm?
Many parents condemn me at this point – being too hard on the child and blunting her spirit. Really?
Well, how many mistakes are allowed in the General Ledger before you lose your patience? What if Diana decides to only call on 93% of her overdue clients? Or Joyce only ignores 7% of the calls at the switchboard? It’s a 100%, no-mistake reality in the world of business.
Some parents are happy with a 60% academic average. So the kid has no clue about the other 40%. Happy with this he only arrives at work 6 days in 10, delivers 40% of his assigned tasks, and is mortified to learn that this is totally unacceptable.
Maybe the problem lies with the parents who accept underperformance from their kids without realising the damage done to their expectations and to their performance in the real world.
Mistakes occur – and we fire people for making mistakes. But ‘mistake’ is only an unfixed error, a fixed error is a learning experience and we applaud that. A 40% mistake rate leaves much room for learning, never a shrug of indifference.
Preach the 100% world – and stick to your guns. Insubordination is the act of cowardice of someone not convinced that his way is better with the conviction to state so upfront. All processes are up for debate, and should remain so. A contrary view should be heard, debated and cogently dismissed or accepted. Then it should be 100% implemented. Or else.
This tip is an extract from the manuscript of “The Unconventional CEO: Common sense outside of conventional Management thinking” (by Mario Pretorius).
