Success without mistakes?

I recently sat in on a meeting with an owner and a group of his employees. The meeting was a weekly update on the takeover process of a number of properties in another state. Things were going along well until it was revealed that someone had dropped the ball regarding the billing of the utilities for the project. The project involved a number of properties and was easily in the 10’s of million dollars. It seemed there was some confusion as to who was responsible for switching over the actual utility billing from the current owner to the new owner, and could potentially result in the utilities being interrupted for the current tenants.

The owner, a smart, charismatic and passionate individual, surrounded by members of his team, most of which were half his age, had a choice to make; he could use it as a teachable moment or he could lose his temper and look to place blame. Regrettably, he chose the latter option. Over the next 45 minutes, I watched him yell, hit the table, threaten, and drop literally dozens of “f bombs”. Now, don’t get me wrong, depending upon the severity of the issue, this type of passionate display can work, if used extremely selectively and with a team with whom you have built trust and mutual
respect.

Unfortunately, this gentleman was notorious for this type of behavior, and had cultivated an environment of fear and self-preservation. For the rest of the meeting, I saw his entire team squirm in their seats, making excuses and trying to prove their innocence. Finally, the owner got up and stormed out of the room. I was dumbfounded, but as I looked around the room, the team just packed up their materials and started to leave, as if nothing had happened. They had seen this from him so many times, they had become completely desensitized to these tirades.

This company is successful, but how much more successful could they be if the employees felt comfortable stretching themselves and occasionally making a mistake. I pity the poor employee who dares think outside the norm and have it not work out as expected.

Question: Can your company reach its’ full potential if employees are afraid to make a mistake?

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