Go Ahead, Make a Mistake

For those who haven’t heard it before, here’s a newsflash – if you aren’t making mistakes you aren’t learning. That’s the catch when you try something new. You have to be willing to be humbled in the process.

When I changed careers to become a computer programmer, I knew just enough to be dangerous. Not quite a good thing when one has just started a job at a very large, well-known telecommunications company, working on a system feeding their corporate books, no less. Was I nervous? Terribly. Did I make mistakes? Certainly. In order to learn we have to be willing to look a bit ridiculous, be unsure, and not be the “go-to” person we may have been in our previous professions.

After three years in the corporate books department I evolved into someone who could solve problems. Who’d have thought it? I certainly didn’t think it could happen when I first started out. My pride took a few hits in the beginning, but I learned from every mistake, misstep and mishap. I learned that there’s nothing wrong with saying that you don’t have all the answers – that you’re a little afraid, intimidated or just plain frustrated. It goes away eventually. All it takes is being willing to make mistakes and learn from them. Frankly, I’m glad I don’t have all the answers. If I did, what more would I have to learn?