To start, when I’ve taken cooking classes, I was taught this: Always taste what you’re cooking. Be cautious. Add some salt — and then taste. You can always add more. In the realm of cooking, just as in business and personal development, mistakes are not just common; they are a… Read More "The #1 Mistake You’re Making When Following a Recipe: Too Much or Too Little Salt"
This blog is a collection of stories, quotes, articles, and more about mistakes. Some of it is “director’s cut” material that didn’t make it into my book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. I also blog regularly at LeanBlog.org.
The Mistakes Are Bigger at The State Fair of Texas
As I write about in The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation, there are knowledge-based mistakes (where you don’t know how to do something the right way) and there are execution mistakes (where you know what to do, but you slip up and do something… Read More "The Mistakes Are Bigger at The State Fair of Texas"
A Tragic Oversight: How Misunderstandings and Staffing Shortages Led to a Patient’s Death in the ICU
In an unsettling tale from within our hospitals, a friend recently relayed an alarming incident. It’s a story that unveils the complex challenges our healthcare professionals grapple with and the silent crises that occasionally go unnoticed. A diligent nurse, fresh out of school with just a year’s experience under her… Read More "A Tragic Oversight: How Misunderstandings and Staffing Shortages Led to a Patient’s Death in the ICU"
Notre Dame Football’s 10-Player Blunder: A Case Study in Failing to Learn from Mistakes
It was a stunning finish to last Saturday’s big matchup between two top-ten NCAA college football teams, as #6 Ohio State scored the winning touchdown against #9 Notre Dame on the last play of the game, taking a 17 to 14 victory. The mistake isn’t giving up a touchdown. The… Read More "Notre Dame Football’s 10-Player Blunder: A Case Study in Failing to Learn from Mistakes"
Boeing 767 Emergency Slide Deployment: Flight Attendant Blame or Systemic Issue?
It’s not unusual to see individuals get blamed for systemic errors and problems. Case in point, this article: Delta Air Flight Attendant Makes Expensive Mistake After Emergency Slide is Accidentally Deployed Shortly After Landing in Dublin It seems like a fact that the flight attendant deployed the slide. But is… Read More "Boeing 767 Emergency Slide Deployment: Flight Attendant Blame or Systemic Issue?"
ESPN’s Michael Kay’s Bad Assumption: Misjudging NY Giants Coach Brian Daboll Explained
Assumptions are a common cause of mistakes. In any workplace, we often make the best decision that we can at a given moment. But when a lack of knowledge is replaced with assumptions… that decision might turn out to be a bad one. So it’s important to recognize when we… Read More "ESPN’s Michael Kay’s Bad Assumption: Misjudging NY Giants Coach Brian Daboll Explained"