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Morning Minute 9.18.26

You Made a Mistake—Now What? What happens next is just as important as what just happened.

Roberta had safely used the restaurant's food grinder for years. Then one careless mistake resulted in a serious injury.

Carl needed to replace a factory manager. In his haste, he skipped part of the established hiring process. His new manager alienated the team, and several employees resigned.

Erica underestimated inventory needs for a major sales event. The store ran out of its hottest-selling products, disappointing customers and costing sales.

Three different mistakes.

One injured an employee. One damaged a team. One disappointed customers and cost sales.

Some are mistakes of commission—doing something we shouldn't. Others are mistakes of omission—failing to do something we should.

Leaders must prepare for both.

So, how should you deal with mistakes?

1. ANTICIPATE.

Before an important activity, ask:

What could reasonably go wrong?

​Safety procedures reduce injuries. Disciplined hiring processes reduce bad hires. Proper forecasting reduces inventory shortages.

You can't anticipate everything.

But you can prepare for what you can anticipate.

2. RESPOND.

When something goes wrong, deal with the immediate problem first.

Get Roberta immediate medical attention.

Address the leadership problem before more employees leave.

Find additional inventory and communicate with customers and staff.

Solve today's problem before it becomes tomorrow's bigger problem.

3. LEARN.

Once the immediate problem is under control, ask:

What happened? Why did it happen? What should we do differently next time?

4. IMPROVE.

Then use what you learned.

Review safety procedures. Strengthen the hiring processes. Improve sales forecasts.

A mistake becomes particularly expensive when we pay for the lesson—and fail to learn from it.

Don't pay for the same lesson twice.

You will never eliminate mistakes.

But you can create a culture where people anticipate problems, respond intelligently, learn from what happened, and improve what they do next.

So, before your next important decision, project, or event, ask:

What could reasonably go wrong?

What will we do if it does?

How will we use what happens to improve what we do next?

Anticipate. Respond. Learn. Improve.

Correcting a mistake solves today's problem.

Learning from it—and improving because of it—can prevent tomorrow's.

And remember:

Information without transformation is wasted energy!

Keep Learning! Keep Leading!

That is today's Morning Minute.

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Here are some recent Morning Minutes you may have missed with actionable ideas, useful instruction, and step-by-step methods to help you, your family, and/or your team to be more, do more, and achieve more.

​"Building Relationships, Gaining Skills, Creating Influence!" Three ways to become increasingly valuable in an AI driven Workplace. Discover how these 3 human skills will set you apart from the crowd from those who simply rely on AI to do their jobs. Learn how relationships are built through trust, how problem-solving skills build your personal value, and how influence is earned thru your contributions.

"There Oughta Be A Law!" Laws cannot take the place of personal responsibility or self-discipline. Discover the symptoms, situations, and expectations that we encounter as we make decisions. Learn how that we have been given an example of how to take responsibility for the gifts and talents we have been given. Discover the the benefits of deciding what to do and having the self-discipline to do it.

​"Don't Wait Until Something Happens!" Anticipate what you can! Adapt when you must! Learn from both! Discover how that the real problem is waiting until something goes wrong before thinking about what can go wrong. Learn from yesterday. Anticipate tomorrow! React intelligently today!

​"Formulate - Initiate - Accelerate - Designate!" Four steps to transform your team - and prepare yourself for your next opportunity. Formulate your action plan by analyzing the 4 Ps. Initiate your plan based on what you learned. Accelerate transformation of your team by investing the required resources. Then designate and train the person who will succeed you to make yourself ready for your next opportunity.

​"Understanding Their Why Before their What!" Learn why beliefs and motives often predict behavior better than skills alone. Discover 4 decisions you should make before any hiring decisions. Understand how the why behind today's choices often predicts tomorrow's performance. For a list of probing interview questions request them at lab@larryonlearning.com.

​"Talent Opens Doors - Discipline Determines Results!" Talent is a God-given gift. But discipline determines what we do with that gift. Learn why many times talented people fall short of expectations, while average people who are disciplined excel through their commitment to continuous improvement. Discover 3 interview questions that will aid you in determining who to recruit, and who to pass on.

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