#1 Employee fear? Making a mistake

There comes a time, when you've been writing about learning from mistakes for five years or so, when you think the message must have gotten through - when mistakes happen, they are often due to process or business complexities or miscommunication rather than incompetence or carelessness. Acknowledging and sharing them are essential tools to drive learning and improvement in the organization as a whole. They should not be hidden, or fixed quietly. In short, they are not to be dreaded.

Then reality strikes. HR consulting company Robert Half International surveyed employees to assess the primary fears in the workplace. "Making errors on the job" was the #1 response, cited by 28% of the respondents.

Which just goes to show how much work we have left to do. Bosses, you need to change this situation. Can you please read some of the top books of 2011 and 2012 on this topic? Or read this excerpt from the Mistake Bank book and order a copy when it is published after the New Year? Thank you.

[Hat tip to David K. Williams and Mary Michelle Scott for pointing out the survey.]

"Never give up your right to be wrong"

I found this artfully-written note pinned to the bulletin board at the kids' workout room at the local YMCA:

It says:

Aim for success, not perfection.

Never give up your right to be wrong because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life.

Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can paradoxically make you a far happier and more productive person!!

I couldn't have said it better myself!

Designer Michael Wolff: Fear of failure as fear of scarcity of ideas

This video is by co-founder of the Wolff Olins brand consultancy Michael Wolff. He points out that fear is a very useful emotion, and narrows down fear of failure in creative people as a concern they'll have no other ideas to turn to - a baseless fear, in his opinion.

Michael Wolff – on the fear of failure. from Berghs' Exhibition '11 on Vimeo.

More information on the Berghs Exhibition here.

And here is a bonus video featuring Michael Wolff - not focused on failure, but interesting nonetheless:

Designer Milton Glaser says that failures are central to personal development

Designer Milton Glaser is featured in the video series from Berghs College of Communication's 2011 Exhibition. It's really an amazing talk that you must watch in full.

Says Glaser, "Understanding development comes from failure. People begin to get better when they fail. They move towards failure, they discover something as a result of failing. They fail again; they discover something else. They fail again; they discover something else. So, the model for personal development is antithetical to the model for professional success [which is based on repeated demonstration of expertise]."

And: "The real embarrassment about failure is that you learn you are not as good as you thought you were." Nevertheless, "you must embrace failure, you must admit what is, you must find out what you're capable of doing, and what you're not capable of doing."

Milton Glaser – on the fear of failure. from Berghs' Exhibition '11 on Vimeo.

More information on the Berghs Exhibition here.

Ad copywriter Luke Sullivan faces down the fear of failure

Possibly the wackiest of the videos in the series from Berghs College of Communication's 2011 Exhibition. Luke Sullivan is a longtime copywriter, the head of the advertising program at Savannah College of Art & Design, and the author of "Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Advertising."

In this video, Sullivan stares down (metaphorically) a living, breathing incarnation of fear - or, at least, a fear that can talk on the phone.

Luke Sullivan – on the fear of failure. from Berghs' Exhibition '11 on Vimeo.

More information on the Berghs Exhibition here.

Photographer Sarah Moon on the fear of failure coming from "one's own demand"

One of the videos in the series from Berghs College of Communication's 2011 Exhibition. This video features Paris-based photographer Sarah Moon.


Sarah Moon – on the fear of failure. from Berghs' Exhibition '11 on Vimeo.

More information on the Berghs Exhibition here.

"What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid of Failure?" from Berghs School of Communication

A college in Stockholm, Berghs offers education in public relations, advertising, design, and other communications fields. Berghs' wonderful 2011 Exhibition focuses on the fear of failure, and includes a wonderful video series featuring leading designers, writers and academics discussing this theme. We'll feature these videos for the next couple of weeks.

If you happen to be in Stockholm at the end of May, here's information about the public exhibition.

[Hat tip to Craig Collins for pointing out this FastCoDesign post on the exhibition.]