The Jennifer Lawrence Fall
Management Monday: Managing Mistakes
Jennifer Lawrence has established a bit of a pattern. She has now fallen two years in a row at the Oscars (The Washington Post). At the recent Oscars (Oscars 2014) she tripped over a cone on the red carpet and at the 2013 Oscars she tripped walking up the stairs to the stage. Perhaps it’s appropriate to coin a term after this pattern in referring to someone’s mistakes. However, this term would be viewed in a positive light. Someone’s “Jennifer Lawrence Fall” would refer to a mistake that is handled with grace and a positive attitude. And anyone who believes they are above mistakes would be mistaken. Every person struggles and we all take a wrong turn now and then. We haven’t truly failed unless we adopt a negative attitude and give up. From a psychological stand point, there are thought processes that enable strength in the face of a mishap, rather than stress or depression.
10 Tips for Dealing with Mistakes
- Acknowledge that everyone makes mistakes
- Don’t let mistakes prevent taking chances
- Remember that mistakes are part of the learning process
- Don’t let mistakes stifle confidence
- Make things right if it is necessary or possible to fix
- Let mistakes be a lesson learned
- Develop a sense of humor about mistakes
- Remember that mistakes have not been the end of the world in the past
- Let mistakes strengthen resilience
- Not every mistake is actually a mistake; know the difference
Stars trip on the red carpet now and then, employees forget to return a phone call, bosses forget to convey an instruction and CEOs focus too much on the numbers (9 Crippling Mistakes CEOs Make). Be it miscommunication, errors in conflict resolution, poor work life balance choices or any number of bad decisions, it happens to everyone. Everyone experiences miscalculations, but often these missteps are part of the path to success.
Photo Credit: WindKoh via Flickr
