Positive error culture

A positive error culture is a key success factor. It affects the motivation, the way of working, the mood of the employees and the work processes in a company. An important tip for dealing with the mistakes is to analyze the mistake culture and introduce certain rules and reward systems. In particular, your attitude towards mistakes as a manager can have a significant influence on the error culture. Anyone who takes this into account can build up a positive error culture in the long term and benefit from it.

Error culture and its types

The error culture of a company means the way in which mistakes or failures are dealt with and what the reactions to them are. In a weak error culture, the mistakes are concealed, problems are concealed and blame is assigned. In contrast to this is the positive error culture. The positive error culture actively deals with the mistakes - without assigning blame. This culture is about dealing with mistakes and failures in an open, constructive and solution-oriented manner. Dealing openly with errors not only leads to error prevention, but also to an increase in performance.

Why is the positive error culture so important?

To be content and happy on every level is of course the aspiration of all people. Anyone who always wants to be happy therefore also longs for a permanently euphoric state. But let's be honest: Long-term job satisfaction is undoubtedly not achievable on a permanent basis - just as little as in a relationship or in private life in general. Rather, you should see the big picture and realize that happy or successful moments at work are not the norm, just the icing on the cake. Once you have taken this step and realized the positive in your job and stop emulating unrealistic expectations, you take a lot of pressure out of the situation for yourself.

In general, it helps in many situations to simply ignore the emotions and practice a realistic view of the job. Bear in mind that you do not have to make the company your business, but only provide the required service. Also, be aware that managers are not there to praise you all the time. An objective attitude usually prevents frustration and helps to distance oneself from certain situations.

How can companies introduce a positive error culture?

You cannot introduce a positive error culture overnight. But with the right plan and actions, you can speed up the process.

1. Analysis of the error culture

First and foremost, think about what the current error culture in your organization looks like:

In what way are the errors registered?
How do you deal with these?
Is there a specific troubleshooting procedure?
What Consequences threaten your employees?
How do you rate your employees? Do you have Anxietyto admit their mistakes?

2. Introduce rules

A positive error culture works with a certain balance. Make it clear to your employees that mistakes are allowed. However, they should not feel compelled to take unnecessary risks. It is advisable to establish a set of rules or give specific instructions on how to deal with errors. If you want to succeed as a leader in your company, you should also follow these guidelines yourself and admit your mistakes. Because standing by your own failures is also part of a positive error culture.

3. Reward System

You can also integrate a reward system. This serves as a motivation for the employee to admit their own mistakes. It is also important to report a bug in a clearly defined process. Employees are assembled into a team that works together Causes and Suggested solutions brings in. This makes the error process significantly shorter and employees will learn from their own mistakes and those of others and improve their working methods.