Growing up we’ve been made to believe that making mistakes was such a bad thing, there was zero tolerance for mistakes, some were restricted from doing certain things or participating in some events to avoid making mistakes.
Honestly, is making a mistake really a bad idea? I believe u will be able to answer this question at the end of this piece.
Albert Einstien said “Anyone who has never made any mistake has never tried anything new.” In other words anyone who has made a mistake has tried something new, thus, mistake is the evidence of something new. There are a numbers of books written on making mistakes, such as: It’s ok to Make a Mistake by Todd Parr, Why we Make Mistakes by Joseph T. Hallianan, Mistakes were Made (But not by me) by Carol Tarris & Elliot Aronson, and Making Mistakes on Purpose by Elise Primavera. Even Harvard Business Review did a piece on The Miracle of Making Mistakes by Vineet Nayar. This tells us the seriousness and importance of this topic.
According to oxford dictionary, mistake is an act or judgement that is misguided or wrong. It can also be something that doesn't work out as one intended. One thing that come along with every mistake is the PRICE, most often than not, we get scared of making mistakes because of the price. However, we have to understand that, innovation only flourishes when people are giving the room to make mistakes. Thus, we must not feel frightened or alone about making mistakes, because, every professional was once an amateur who made mistakes, and every teacher was once a student who made mistakes. Thus, there is nothing mystical about making mistakes. Mahatma Gandhi said “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
It is interesting to note that there are a lot of books about mistakes written for children, they are now been encouraged to make mistakes and learn from them. This is owing to the fact that the price of a mistake has a higher future value. For instance, a pilot in training will first practise with a simulator before flying a real plane; this is done to enable the pilot make every mistake possible with the simulator because, the cost of those mistakes is nothing compared to that of a real plane. You will agree with me that some mistakes were better made when we were much younger; the only price to pay then was a knock on the head or what Yoruba people call “igbati oloyi.” Now, such mistake can cost one’s job, marriage or even one’s life. It is better to make a mistake now and learn from it when you can still pay the price, than to make that mistake in future when you can no longer afford to pay the price. Making mistakes is a proof that you are learning.
This piece does not seek to trivialise mistakes, but only attempts to demystify it. I leave you with this quote.
It is unwise to be too sure of one’s wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest weaken and the wisest might err. - Mahatma Gandhi.
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