The Balance Beam From Success Builders Inc.

This is From The Balance Beam

[TheBalanceBeam] - The Power of Getting it Wrong

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THE BALANCE BEAM
Ideas and Inspiration for Creating a Life that Works
Vol. 2 No. 23, November 20, 2000
Published by Success Builders, Inc.
http://www.SuccessBuildersInc.com
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"He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened."
Lao-tzu
In this issue: THE POWER OF GETTING IT WRONG
====================================================================== Dear Friends,
I'm chuckling as I write this issue of The Balance Beam, and savoring a moment of closeness with you, my readers. This is an article about the lessons learned from screwing up, and how much pleasure there is to be had in simply being human.
And, while I'm on the subject of closeness with you, let me take just a moment to thank you for allowing me into your thoughts and hearts every couple of weeks. As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving in the USA this Thursday, know that I am so thankful for each of you, and I wish you a bountiful harvest of love and good cheer!
If you want to check out earlier editions of The Balance Beam that you may have missed, you can easily retrieve them by clicking on http://www.successbuildersinc.com/newsletter.html and going to the Archives section. If you are not yet a regular subscriber to The Balance Beam, you can also enter your subscription information at this location.
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Today's Topic: THE POWER OF GETTING IT WRONG
Sometimes the best learning comes from the bloopers. What I'm talking about are those everyday little foul-ups that occur in the midst of our trying to get it right.
I had one of these situations occur as I was writing my last issue of The Balance Beam, which was my article about "Leveraging Your Brilliance." A line from an old song immediately popped into my mind for the closing quote, but as I struggled to recall the artist, I found myself vacillating between two musical groups. Now, I could have taken the time to figure out which one was right, but instead I gave it my best shot, hit the "process now" button, and sent my words off into cyberspace, right, wrong or otherwise.
Guess what? I chose wrong. (I'm obviously not as "brilliant" at my rock history as I used to be!) It turns out that the group I ascribed the song line to was the right era, but the wrong artist. How did I know? I had a barrage of emails sitting in my mailbox the very next morning waiting to correct my blunder. (Thanks to Ray, Diane, Ken, et. al. You know who you are....) This was obviously not a mistake of any great magnitude, and certainly not one to lose sleep over. Still, it rattled me a bit to know that I got it wrong. And, it started me thinking about how often we worry about these little foul-ups in our work and personal lives.
Our tolerance for mistakes in ourselves and others is obviously related to the context in which they occur. Getting the author of a quotation wrong, neglecting to copy someone on a memo, forgetting to include a key manager in a meeting, while they may be faux pas of the red-faced variety, are generally recoverable errors. On the other hand, you wouldn't want your heart surgeon to forget a step in the procedure, or to guess the wrong type of medication to prescribe. After all, there are mistakes, and then there are mistakes.
But for the garden variety bloopers that we all commit, there are some opportunities for learning, personal growth, and yes, even enjoyment in the process of fouling up. Consider these tips for harnessing the power in getting it wrong:
1. Get over the need to be right all the time. Not only is it impossible, it's way too much work. Understand what's behind your need for perfection. There's a difference between having high standards and driving yourself crazy.
2. Enjoy the connections created in those moments of being exquisitely imperfect. Imperfection is part of the human condition and it draws us together. In my example of the misquote from my last issue, one of the wonderful things that resulted from this blooper was the opportunity to connect with readers I may have never otherwise heard from.
3. Ask for help. This is one of my big lessons in life, and one that I frequently come back to. Sometimes we push ourselves to have all the answers when we're surrounded by people who would be happy to provide us with the assistance we need. Taking the lone ranger approach increases our probability of mistakes. It's generally true that two heads are better than one.
4. Look for the silver lining in your mistakes. Sometimes it's a new discovery or a better way to do things. And sometimes it's a bit of good news gleaned from the process of figuring out where you went wrong. In the story I've shared here, I was thrilled to discover that my subscribers were at least reading all the way to the end of my articles, or they never would have found my mistake!
5. Have a hearty belly laugh at yourself. How much time do you spend taking yourself too seriously? A tidy little blunder can be just the thing to help you lighten up and regain your perspective. Remember to ask yourself, a hundred years from now, what will it matter? Better yet, does it really even matter today?
In a perfect world, we would all get it right, all the time. But in the real world, which is where I prefer to live, there's huge power to be had in getting it wrong.
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So, have you figured it out?? The line, "Shine on, you crazy diamond" is from Pink Floyd, NOT Procol Harum. And, as my reader Ray gently teased me with, "My face not ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale."