When We Mess Up at Work - 2

We've been talking about ways we might "mess up" at work. Last time we focused on communication. We chose this because it's common to all of us. But, of course, there are many areas where we can mess up. Today we'll pick a few of the many, starting with a personal experience.

I was just hired at a new company for a position I worked hard to get - lots of interviews, a bit of a stretch from my previous experience. But I got the gig. I started the day after New Year's. (Talk about a fresh start.) So after the usual human resources stuff my first day, I was told to show up for a meeting of our sector. The head of our sector was leading the meeting. (I had interviewed with him.) 

This job was really a big deal for me. So I decided to attend Mass that morning at a church I found a few blocks away from the company location (in Manhattan where there are lots of Catholic churches). I'd never been to either the building or the church, but they were within two blocks of each other, and easily located from the subway stop where I got off.

There I was at Mass thanking God profusely for his generosity in helping me get this job (knowing that all happens in some fashion according to His Will). After Mass, I checked my watch. It was 9 o'clock - plenty of time until the 9:30 meeting would begin. Got to the building in plenty of time in case there was some issue with security or anything else that might delay me from getting to the meeting room somewhere on the upper floors of the building. Right on schedule, I arrived early - or so I thought. 

When I opened the door it was clear the meeting was already under way. And the only seat was next to the head of the Sector - a guy who was one of the top executives at this big corporation. To this day I don't really know how I got the time mixed up. But there I was, quietly, sheepishly tip-toeing to the empty chair. Of course, there was no way the "big guy" couldn't see me.

I had messed up. 

Fortunately the big boss was quite gracious, especially after I had the chance to explain that I had misunderstood the start time. Whew!

Oh, and then there are the occasional mess ups due to a lack of attention to detail, which can include things like bad manual inputs to spreadsheets and software and...well, let's stop there. Maybe you've had similar mess ups; or, chances are, you've got you're own list if these don't apply.

As we said when we first began this thread, unless we're perfect, as in PERFECT, we all mess up from time to time. So what to do about it?

Well, it helps if you try to figure out the reason for the mess up. While I still don't know how I messed up the start time of that meeting, lots of times we can find the reasons for this or that mess up. When we do, our next step is to figure out if we can somehow head off any repeat off at the pass. For example, sometimes we set a new rule or procedure in our business to avoid certain repeat mess ups. 

Developing or augmenting checklists might apply when we find a weak "mess up" spot. I learned a good lesson about the value of checklists from a pilot friend who told me in great detail the checklist he had to follow each and every time he entered the cockpit. Even after 20+ years of experience, he never messed with that checklist. You can imagine the mess up that could occur from messing with a checklist like that!

So do take the time to figure out how, when, where, why you messed up. In addition to the practical benefit of this, there's an even bigger bonus benefit if you do this with the right attitude. In one word, it's "humility."

Think of mess ups as little gifts from God designed to humble you. If you've got the right attitude at allows you to accept responsibility, if you're not so prideful that a swallow of humility won't choke you, that's ideal. God knows that many - if not most of us - can use a stiff shot of humility when it comes to our egos or self-centeredness. With that, Our Lord has a solid chunk of grace ready for us to wash down with our gulp of humility. And with that, we might well find an increase in the virtue of humility - one of the most important virtues for anyone with the serious intention of becoming a saint, to say the least.

In the end, when we mess up at work, we want to learn two lessons, one practical, one spiritual.

On the practical level, as we've noted, we want to take the time to figure out what went wrong and see if we can avoid a repeat performance, or at least minimize our messing up in the same way again.

On the spiritual level, we have an opportunity to use our mess up at work to increase the virtue of humility, without which we'll have no chance at advancing in our spiritual life, which ultimately means growing closer to God.

So while it's best not to mess up at work, a mess up can be a way to improve our business and - more importantly - improve our spiritual life.

Not a bad combination.