Mistakes Happen, Don’t Over Correct

After spending so many years living in the mountains of North Carolina, Dave, my husband, and I are no strangers to a good snow.

A few months ago, having to head back to our Arkansas home after an unexpected snowstorm put us driving on roads that were still icy. 

We knew we had just a couple of miles of mountainous, rural roads to pass before getting on state roads that would be plowed by mid-morning.

We took it slow and followed the path that looked clear.

At one point that path took one wheel off the edge of the black top and Dave had to make an adjustment to get back on the road.

Just the slightest turn of the wheel turned into an overcorrection that caused the vehicle to slide.

My husband's instincts kicked in and he turned into the slide so the tires caught traction in just a couple of seconds.

Then we were travelling forward back in control.  

At the beginning of the year, I was on a call with a team member when we were trying to develop a control mechanism to ensure we don't repeat a process that caused an issue for a client.

She had some ideas and so did I.

As we worked through each of our suggestions, we realized that some of the ideas might be overcorrecting.

Some of them were going to cost more to implement than the cost of the issue itself.

We stepped back and took stock of the situation.  

Yes, there had been an issue, a costly one, and in 10 years of business it had only happened once.

That timeline isn't to excuse it, but to put it into perspective as we evaluated the fix.

Here are a few lessons I discovered about overcorrecting:  

1. Owning the mistake and drive into the slide is the first and best opportunity you have to course correct and save the situation.  

2. Make sure the control measures you put in place are effective, timely, and appropriate for the level of exposure the problem might cause the business. 

3. Involve your team in finding potential solutions and ensure they are brought into the remedy.  

4. Make sure your fear knows that mistakes happen. They are unavoidable, that owning the mistake and being part of finding a solution is what is important and is how we grow as an organization and as a people. 

Mistakes hurt. No team member wants to make them.

And no business owner wants to learn about them.

But it is in these moments that we can tighten up our processes.

Align our values and support the learning and growth of our team.

If you want to create a business that is based on your values, that can be honest about mistakes and find the solutions, we're here to help.

By taking our Ecommerce Business Performance Assessment, you can find those areas that may be causing little mistakes in less than 8 minutes!

You can then use our Assessment Guide to make adjustments without overcorrecting.

If you want to get back on course and work through your results, schedule a call now before May is full.

Cyndi