Making Mistakes is Good

Someone once said that “you learn more when you make mistakes than when you get everything right”. I forget who said that but it’s just as true today as when I first heard it. Today was a good example of that.

I was trying to do something at work and my boss was fortunately online while I was doing it. I kept making mistakes and I was getting frustrated until my boss stepped in and pointed out what I was doing wrong. Then a light bulb flashed in my head and I realized that the experience of making all those mistakes is just as valuable (if not more valuable) than the experience of getting everything right the first time. The value to me this time was that I was able to see the process at work from the point of view (POV) of the user of the system. If I were an instant expert who could see everything only from the point of view of the developer of the system, I probably would not have that kind of insight.

In my case, I was able to see where the system would wind up confusing the end user. There are many ways that an end user would wind up getting confused as he goes through this process and I saw some of those pitfalls. Fortunately for me, that is important because it serves as useful material for my work blog. I could point out to the readers where they might make mistakes but more importantly, to acknowledge that no one is perfect and even the most intelligent of people do make mistakes too when trying something new.

If you start to feel that you’re never going to get your work right and that everything you are doing seems futile, don’t give up. You may eventually get your own light bulb flashing in your brain and you will then realize that the effort you put in is really worth it in the end. And if the process of learning does become so tedious, tiring and discouraging, don’t give up – most likely the solution is within reach and you just have to be persistent about finding it.