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How to Handle Mistakes Like George Washington

February 19, 2007 By Joe Rawlinson

Today is President’s Day here in the United States and we celebrate the birthday of our first President, George Washington.

Last year, we saw the advice we’d get if George Washington was CEO of your company. This year, let’s look at how George would handle mistakes.

Gracefully Handle Mistakes

To err is natural; to rectify error is glory.

You and your business will make mistakes. This is inevitable. You can prevent some mistakes by being prepared. However, be ready to react when problems arise.

How can you “rectify error?”

  • Admit the error. Don’t just ignore it or brush it aside.
  • Apologize to the customer.
  • Make the customer’s pre-error expectations a reality.
  • Compensate the customer for the inconvenience.
  • Prevent the error from happening again.

Learn Your Lesson

We ought not to look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dear-bought experience.

There is no need to look back in despair at the mistakes of the past. You can learn from them. Your business will have the occasional fires flare up that have to be addressed. You’ll need to dedicate your resources to the immediate resolution of the issue.

Once the problem is fixed, you can look back and see what lessons there are to learn:

  • Why did the error happen?
  • What were the warning signs of the impending error?
  • What can we change to prevent the problem from happening again?
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