Enliven Daily

“If you’re not making mistakes, you’re probably not trying hard enough.”

As I wrote about on Wednesday, two stories (one locally in New Hampshire and the other now worldly) caught my attention based on how they are being handled by those in charge.  As I think more and more about the Choice an air traffic controller made to allow his kids to give out instructions to pilots, I do not need convincing that it was a poor and inappropriate Choice by this dad.  No argument here as I am sure if he and his supervisor had a chance to do it all over again, these kids would never have been allowed to talk to pilots.

But why did this have to become a federal case (pun intended)?  I cannot solely blame the media but they are a big part of it.  The reality of the new Millennium is that we are living in the era of drama and shock.  We are sending a message loud and clear that the screw-ups, both unintentional and intentional, sell.  Thanks to the internet, 24-hour news, camera phones and other means, anything and everything people do can become the next news teaser or internet sensation.  Mistakes, like a dad probably proud to take his kids to his work and let them have a unique experience, now has him possibly out of a job and if not, not a very popular co-worker.  In addition, this experience and Choices of leadership and the media have without a doubt, left these kids confused and hurting, thinking they got their dad in trouble.

Why did this mistake have to become world news?  As a result of this overreaction by all involved, this controller’s union came out and had to take the stance they did which did not help create harmony amongst all the members.  All other air traffic controllers are now under the microscope where if their job was not already stressful enough, it just got that much tenser.  A supervisor who allowed these kids to do what they did, which I no doubt made sure there were no risks, is also in trouble mainly because he was standing behind one of his constituents and making their job fun and proud for a guy’s kids.  

We are approaching very dangerous territory in our drama filled and lawsuit happy culture.  Every time a person makes a mistake, especially at work, the pendulum goes to the extreme to either send a message or cover one’s ass.  When that occurs, people will not try as hard and will actually begin to work in fear spending more time worried about their job instead of doing their job.  Do you think that will improve productivity, quality and innovation in the workplace?  I assure you it will not.

This guy screwed up and when it became public, it was a PR nightmare for all - the airline, FTA and union.  Why - to sell some ad space, boost ratings or get hits on sites?  If we don’t want our employees making mistakes, why should we ask them to even try?  I am not sure who originally coined our opening quote but it is one I share with everyone any chance I get and hope you do too.  And if a mistake is made, why don’t we all just focus more on learning from it instead of advertising it?