High standards are important, and the desire for zero error often comes from a good place. However, we must also recognize a simple reality; people are human, and errors will occur.
When mistakes are severely punished and not openly discussed, people tend to hide their mistakes, play safe, avoid innovation, and focus more on compliance than improvement. Over time, this can lead to layers of ineffective controls, less learning, and missed opportunities to strengthen our systems.
This does not excuse poor discipline or deliberate misconduct. Accountability remains essential. However, the opportunity for leadership is to build resilient systems where:
1. Errors are identified EARLY
2. Lessons are shared OPENLY and
3. People learn and improve WITHOUT FEAR.
Organisations that perform best are not those that never experience errors, but those that design systems where people can fail safely, learn fast, recover quickly and continuously improve.
This is definitely worth reflecting on, but don’t just reflect, take action today whilst you still can!
