From Mona’s desk Mistakes and moving forward

I have the following quote on my wall by my desk at work:

“How would you like a job where every time you make a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?”

It’s attributed to Jacques Plante (Six-time Stanley Cup champion playing for the Montreal Canadiens).

Ouch.

I don’t like making mistakes. And I especially don’t like realizing I made one after files have downloaded to Kearney, plates are made and the press is rolling. Yet they happen. Case in point, see the corrections below.

Not long ago, someone said to me, “The Chief never gets anything right.”

I beg to differ.

We get a heck of a lot of things right. Along the way there’s a typo or two, an occasional misspelling, an inaccuracy, but there is a lot more right than wrong.

In this job, in any job or any business, in any project or task, we can’t let the fear of making a mistake stop us from going forward.

Way way back in my high school days, I came home from a basketball game upset because I had made four fouls. My dad said to me something along the lines of, “If you’re playing like you should, you’re going to make fouls. It’s part of the game.” That lesson stayed with me.

To be a confident basketball player, I had to risk making a foul. To put together a newspaper, we have to risk a typo. To be successful in business, you have to try new things. Along the way, if you keep persevering, you get more right than wrong. Even with mistakes along the way, Jacques Plante became a sixtime Stanley cup champion.

Recently Donnis and I took part in an interview about small town newspapers. I’m kicking myself (yep, made a mistake!) because I forget to mention one of the most important aspects - Trust.

People tell us their stories. They let us into their businesses and homes. They trust we’ll do our best and get it right. I don’t think that trust is misplaced. It’s one of the things I hold most dear.

We’ll be once more placed in a position of trust telling people’s stories in Progress and The CORE of Business and we’re gonna bust our butts getting it right. If we mess up, let us know, hopefully without a big red light and an obnoxious buzzer! We’ll set the record straight and keep moving forward.