Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again. – Franklin P. Jones

It happens to the best of us. Making mistakes is part of life and mistakes are certainly part of business. Of course, it’s usually best if mistakes are rare occurrences, but when they occur, how you handle them can make all the difference.

If your employees know you will blow a gasket over even the smallest error, they definitely aren’t going to rush to tell you about a problem. In fact, they may go to great lengths to hide a mistake, potentially causing more problems.

A manager who accepts mistakes and tries to help employees learn from them is certain to have more success. This approach works well with young children – letting them learn from their mistakes is a sure fire way to get a message across (something like, “I told you not to touch the hot stove.”)

There are even instances where a mistake turns into a great invention, discovery or marketing campaign.  Part of making mistakes is trying.  Give your employees a little freedom and see what happens. If the result is a big mistake, at least you tried and hopefully everyone learned a valuable lesson.

How do you handle mistakes in your company? Do employees have the freedom to make a mistake while trying something innovative?