The power of making mistakes (and why you can’t be successful without them)
One of the things many of our parents teach us when growing up is that making mistakes is part of life, and that we need to persevere and not give up. We are also taught to ‘try again’ and to ‘learn from our mistakes’. This is all good and well, but as we can all concede, making a mistake is never easy. Big or small, they take a knock on our confidence and often help us build a healthy resistance to making more mistakes in the future.
“Whether it’s in our private or business lives, our dedication to avoiding mistakes can become one of our greatest downfalls,” says Rogan Jansen, co-founder and creative director at Cape Town based design studio DashDigital. “In our drive for perfect, mistake-less work, we often miss the opportunities to innovate and create something truly unique.
What I’ve learned over the years is that sometimes an attempt at great work can start off looking and feeling like a mishap or a step in the wrong direction, but it’s how you re-route and get back on track that allows for the real magic to come to life.”
— Rogan Jansen | Co-Founder & Creative Director
One set of eyes, life of experience and imagination can only get you so far. The beauty of collaboration within a group of people allows each and every individual to bring with them a fresh set of eyes and affords them the opportunity to share their unique life experiences. This in turn often results in a greater level of inspiration, innovation and most importantly understanding.
“The ability to understand different people’s beliefs, perceptions and thought processes not only builds a foundation for great teamwork but also helps designers to better understand how their end users could view the world,” says Jansen.
And in turn, this greater understanding of more diverse thoughts and experiences empowers designers and creatives to properly lean into crafting content or creative that has a better chance of representing the end user or customer better, and also gives them a proper shot at ensuring the customer resonates with the content too.
Reflecting on some of the mistakes he’s made over the duration of his career, Jansen points out the key learnings these have afforded him and his business.
“Acknowledging that you’ve made a mistake or failed at something is incredibly powerful,” says Jansen, “because it shows that you are not only empathetic but that you are willing to own your problem, analyse why it happened and most importantly find a way to fix it.”
But taking ownership of your challenges doesn’t come easy or happen overnight. This kind of growth takes a mindset shift. It’s very easy for all of us to dwell on the problem at hand, fixate on the mistake or try to find someone else to blame. But ultimately, it’s all about looking at the issue with a clear mind, identifying the areas where you can make a change or a difference, figuring out a possible solution and finally taking action.
“What’s great about taking ownership in your own business is that it’s contagious,” continues Jansen, “the more you own up and work at solving your problems, the more the people around you will strive to do the same. There’s great power in humility and acceptance, particularly when your goal is to set a good example for those around you.”
“Once you, as a leader, have shown a willingness to admit your faults and be honest about your mistakes,” explains Jansen, “you almost instantly create an environment where your team feels safe to make mistakes, and that learning from them is of greater importance than trying to hide them or fostering an obsession of avoiding them completely.”
In businesses where mistakes are embraced rather than punished, it has been proven that fewer significant mistakes happen. And this in turn, not only boosts productivity but efficiency and happiness in teams too.
“This is especially true in a business like mine,” continues Jansen, “where creativity and independent thinking are a core part of the job. In the end, our success as a design team inevitably requires the acceptance of failure as part of the process.”
The process of learning from mistakes is ongoing. But it’s not that you become better at making mistakes – you just become better at turning your mistakes into opportunities, extracting more lessons from your downfalls and embracing continuous development. And all of this culminates in a growth mindset that is unequaled.
People with growth mindsets are those you want in your corner. They’re the team members who are the champions of motivation – always pushing for more, striving to do better and never settling. They’re also the people who are better at giving and receiving criticism, which is invaluable.
“Many of the greatest learnings in my career to date have come from mistakes made or plans that didn’t quite pan out. So, my advice to anyone still questioning their every move to avoid a mistake, is to embrace the possibility of failure and to see it as a pivotal step and learning opportunity in the journey to becoming a better version of yourself.”
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