Did You Make Any Bad Decisions Today?

A buddy of mine told me a story a few years ago that changed the way I think. It's amazing how that happens. One simple story you hear on occasion, can create a paradigm shift in your life.

He told me of a job he used to have where he worked in a steel mill, with a few other guys who were challenged by the new owner of the shut down plant to reassemble the union and the workers and re-open the once failed facility, and make it profitable under new ownership. The new owner was very involved in the day to day operations when it first started up. (as you might expect) The new owner would frequently call into the plant from out of town to see how things were going. On this one occasion he called the Melt Department where my buddy Mark was working and Mark answered the phone.

The owner started the conversation by saying "Good morning Mark. How is everything?"
Mark replied- "Good Sir. Everything is fine"
Owner- "Great!! Tell me Mark, did you make any bad decisions today?"
Mark replied proudly- "No Sir!! Of course not!!"
What the owner said next was fascinating. "You didn't?! Well then you didn't make any good ones either!!" He then slammed the phone down and hung up on Mark.

Mark was obviously confused. What the owner was teaching Mark, was contrary to everything he and most of us all had been taught by authority our entire life. Don't make any mistakes, or bad decisions. In other words, Failure is unacceptable. Don't screw up no matter what you do!

Only this very successful businessman was teaching his young manager what he had already experienced in life and business. He was teaching him a valuable lesson that that had brought him to his present station in life.

The lesson is "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained." Without failures and mistakes, there is no wisdom or success. You can't have one without the other. This is tough to remember sometimes.
When you screw up or make a bad decision, try to embrace it. Make sure you figure out where you went wrong and learn the lesson. Make the adjustment and move on. Continue process until desired outcome is achieved.

The next afternoon, the phone rang in the chaotic Melt office again. Ironically, my buddy Mark answered. It was the owner again:

Mark- "Good afternoon, Melt Department"
Owner- "Mark! How are you?"
Mark- "Fine Sir. How are you?"
Owner- "I'm good Mark. Mark, tell me. did you make any bad decisions today?"
Mark proudly replied- "Yes Sir! I made a whole bunch of them!"

Mark learned the lesson.