Episode #268: Handling Mistakes In Business In Japan

Mistakes happen. The important thing though is how we handle mistakes in Japan? How do you handle mistakes by your staff? We want innovation , we want improvement, we want people stepping out to grow the business. The problem in Japan is making a mistake is taken very seriously and bosses will berate staff for errors and colleagues will be less than supportive. Consequently, staff have learned to avoid all possibility of making a mistake by not taking any risks and by avoiding all additional responsibility and accountability. We want the opposite, but the problem is people are reluctant to do that. When mistakes happen everyone is watching to see how the boss will react and handle the problem. They are all thinking what will happen to me, if I make a mistake. When they see their colleagues being hauled over the coals, they judge that is something to avoid. The best way to avoid that, is keep doing the same old safe things and don’t try anything new.

So we need a philosophy and methodology on handling mistakes. Do you have one or both? Here are some ideas. Firstly, we should check the facts of what happened and not be led by hearsay. Once we have the details and are sure they are correct, we need to engage the person who was responsible for the mistake. How do you habitually approach the mistake maker? Do you confront them with the sordid details of their crime and rebuke them?

Another way which will work much better, is to refer to the mistake indirectly. Keep the confrontational nature of the conversation to a minimum. By referring to the mistake indirectly, we allow people to keep face and to more easily volunteer the information about what happened. The confrontational approach tends to breed denial.

Another way, might be to talk about our own mistakes. We might refer to a stage in our career where we got it wrong and talk about what happened. We do this to show that we understand that we all make mistakes and it is a very human thing. It is also a subtle reminder that mistakes are not fatal and here you are the boss, despite having made mistakes in the past.

It is going to be very rare that a person won’t know they made a mistake. They will know it and they will be feeling bad, guilty and shy about the fact they let the team down. We need to keep that in mind and to approach the conversation very gently.

Their confidence will have gone right down and they will be locked away in their comfort zone, afraid to come out. We need to counter that feeling and restore their confidence. We should lure them out of the comfort zone, so that they can contribute to the firm’s future. We can explain that the innovation process is a messy thing and mistakes will happen. We mention we accept that part of the trade off with getting people to try new things is to allow for errors. If it is a straight up error that has nothing to do with innovation, then we need to have a different conversation about precision and double checking.

When we get to the next stage, we ask them what we can do to recover from the mistake. Now, would you normally start correcting them and telling them what to do? You might try this approach instead of asking them for help in what to do, to engage their ideas and insights. In this way, they are feeling in control and will have a strong sense of ownership of the solution. People own the world they help to create, so we should let them do just that. This also means that the execution piece is more likely to be done well by them, because it is their idea.

Let them work out some possible solutions, select what are the best solutions and getting them busy on fixing the problem

On the other side, if they totally deny any responsibility, if they are not being cooperative, then we have a different type of problem. Taken to the extreme, we will have to reconsider if we want people working with us who refuse to take responsibility and be accountable for their work. Remember this denial approach is driven by their fear.

They are worried they will be fired for the mistake, rather than recruited to fix it. This is the risk averse nature of the culture here at work. We need to assure them that this mistake is not a life sentence nor capital punishment. They need to know they may suffer some penalties for the error and that they can recover and keep going with their career, but they have to take responsibility for what they have done.

If we are able to do it this way, others who are watching won’t be spooked by innovative ideas or change. They will see that this is a culture of coming out of the comfort zone and trying things. They will see that people are valued and not thrown on the wayside at the first sign of trouble. The group expects them to take responsibility and also that people are treated humanely by management. If we can get this right, we will build a stronger team, with more capability of producing creativity and extra value to the enterprise.