Friday, November 20, 2009

Recognizing your mistakes can make you stronger

I understand it. Bad things often happen to good people. Maybe those things are a blessing in disguise. Whatever the case is, those bad things are usually enexpected. It's like being punched in the gut, having your car broken in to and going home to find that your house burned down while you were at court fighting a parking ticket that was mailed to you from a city you've never visited. It's the ultimate bad day.

In these current "uncertain times" (extended shitty period) that kind of crap happens every day (my tweet from earlier proves how even I let my nerves get to me). It happens to people who don't deserve it. It happens to people because someone decided to go in a "different direction". Those people who make a decision like that often do so blindly. They ignore mounting evidence that the problem lies elsewhere but fail to rectify that situation because it would show that they, at one time, made a bad decision. Life is full of bad decisions but you can do right by correcting those bad decisions and bringing people together around you by showing that you listen because, let's face it, a person in power can't have their eyes everywhere all the time - they should depend on their so-called foot soldiers because those are their eyes on the ground.

Does it show weakness to admit that you were wrong? I don't think so. It shows that you're human. It shows that staying the course on one of your decisions isn't the correct path to follow. It makes you relateable.

But that strong-headedness can lead to dissent and second-guessing by those under you. Those in power need those under them to respect their decisions but also respond and act on criticism. Because without the respect of the so-called worker bees, the hive falls in to disrepair.

So there it is, do what's right, admit your mistakes, act to correct your mistakes and take responsibility for shortcomings and outright failures. Who knows, maybe I'll look back at the events of this day and admit that my snap judgment was wrong. If it was I'll gladly eat my words. I'm used to it.

As for my mistakes and the criticism I've received; I have a folder on my desk where I keep my worst design work. I wear it like a badge of honor because it is such a miniscule amount of the overall amount of work I've done but I know it's there and it reminds me that I can and have done bad work. It means I'm human and if more people were reminded of what they've done wrong they'd be further motivated to do better and strive to do right and make the right decisions.

A great decision to make is to check out the photos of Minnesota at MinnPics. I don't make one red cent from it but the photographers featured there work hard and love their craft. Show your appreciation!

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