Edward de Bono on Mistakes

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Comment by William Jack Jordan on March 9, 2010 at 4:33

Perhaps a simple term to describe a venture that didn't succeed etc. could be "honest attempt".

In Chess, a player who learns from each mistake will develop skill very quickly. In practice most people need to make the same mistake several times before they learn from it.

Also in Chess, every option that doesn't work and has to be rejected, deepens your understanding of the situation. This is similar to Georges's comment about no failure just feedback.

Comment by Georges Philips on November 21, 2009 at 16:31

Neurolingustics has a more constructive way of dealing with failure.
There is no failure there is just feedback.
If the outcome you seek is not the one you had designed then you have feedback to evidence the result.

Comment by John Gorman on October 31, 2009 at 0:27

There was I just tinking that was simply experience........................

Comment by John Bittleston on October 29, 2009 at 19:37

When bulding the Cerebos Pacific Group based in Singapore I had a rule that mistakes (commercial mistakes, not fraud) were always celebrated by my senior managers with a botle of champagne at 10.00am in the board room so that we could all learn from the mistake and support the person from whom we had had this valuable lesson. John Bittleston

Comment by Phil Bachmann on August 28, 2009 at 11:40

One day I am going to write some forum software like the one which the de Bono Society uses, but with a feature that allows people to applaud - in various ways.

It would allow me to voice my enthusiastic approval of Rees's line "..swimming in their breakfast cereal!" without tarnishing the moment by having to insert my own face and comment into the scene.

Comment by Franis on August 27, 2009 at 11:55

I'd like to hear more about some of the thinking and core experiences that has allowed people to dare to make mistakes, and thus take risks and have some of them succeed. (We already know how "read the mind of the boss or suffer punishment" is conditioned in schools.)

Here's one of mine: At 12 years old, I was wondering around the library looking for a "Chinese Magic Book" and I stumbled into the I Ching, Book of Changes - which fulfilled these requirements and more. Aside from the fun I've had with the oracle parts of this historic text over the course of my life, I seriously took to heart one of the I Ching's main philosophical ideas, particularly the one to do with the nature of making mistakes.

The I Ching describes this idea as "No Blame." The book states that sometimes environmental, natural or situational circumstances do not cooperate with human efforts, because efforts are not delivered "in accord with the time." You cannot be faulted when this occurs, except perhaps a fault of determining timing. Forgivingly, it is an art to know on the front end if one's timing is correct. This is easily determined after the deed is done. It is at that time you gain additional information of how the deed could have been done in a better way. A small effort at the right time brings more benefits than a huge effort at the wrong time.

Because of gaining a new sensitivity to timing, now I have more courage to say - "I make as many mistakes as it takes." I now believe that assigning blame is the mistake, not the "unsuccessful" action that resulted in the desire to assign blame. Assigning blame is more often used as an excuse to stop potential success and return control to current authority. If we look at the function of blaming, it creates a scapegoat; assigning the consequences or responsibility to be borne by the individual, rather than spreading out consequences of the learning curve to the group.

This philosophy of the I Ching had me often seeking for that "small effort applied in a timely way." Knowing this, I was careful to create many chances to make my mistakes on a small scale before I risked a large effort possibly applied at the wrong time.

The other part of allowing mistakes is to take credit when the successses you want happen occur serendipitously. I have coined the phrase, "Accidentally On Purpose" to describe when these delightful accidents happen, as if by themselves. There is now part of my own practice time designed for where mistakes are welcomed. It's a weird feeling to make constructive mistakes (without punishing) & serendipitous successes, (with congratulating) but the unknown & unfamiliar are where discoveries originate. In a separate practice time these many discoveries can be consolidated by ingraining them into a new habit - but that is a separate activity.