Blog:

There Are No Minor Mistakes

Posted 28-Jun-2008 by Robby Slaughter (@robbyslaughter)

It's 2AM. A woman is sleepwalking, driven to insanity by her role in an unspeakable crime. She begins to hallucinate and notices an imagined, indelible drop of blood on her hand. The tiny stain is only a figment spawned by a guilty conscience, but the blemish becomes her legacy. "Out, damned spot!" she cries. The famous conspirator is the Lady Macbeth.

The Mark of Error

Although most of us have never been an accessory to the murder of the King of Scotland, we have all made mistakes. Sometimes we catch and correct ourselves before anyone else, but too often we will uncover some glaring flaw in a document, an email, or a product already released to its intended audience. These moments, like the nocturnal ramblings of a mad Lady Macbeth, defy our reason. We make typos into catastrophes. We construct practically impossible scenarios in our minds to justify irrational fears. We wake at odd hours to contemplate our foolishness. We even apologize in advance for minutiae not yet discovered.

Error is an expected byproduct of work. Mistakes are useless, and are the source of pity and derision. No matter how industrious the worker, he will see a single misstep as a monument to his inadequacy. No matter how brilliant the creation, the smallest imperfection will place the entire effort under excessive scrutiny. The mark of error automatically becomes a crack in the dam: evidence of incompetence and certainty of failure.

Justifying the Leap

It is unfair, as the expression assures us, to judge a book by its cover. However, I urge you to discard any publications with spelling mistakes on the first page. We review work by measuring graduated levels of expertise. If there are problems for things that are easy, like spelling, cleaning, arithmetic, punctuation and rudimentary logic, what faith can we have that the parts that are hard have any veracity? If we can't find mistakes somewhere, then there's a chance there aren't many anywhere.

This is why diners often swear off a favorite restaurant completely after finding one hair in their salad and why wives strike back with unworldly fury at the slightest mark of lipstick on a collar. Measured against thousands of perfectly good past experiences, the probabilities dictate that these are almost certainly isolated events with innocent explanations. Measured against limited, graduated levels of expertise, these moments incite scorn. The café patrons know almost nothing about the myriad complexities of the food service business, but they can make a sandwich without a sprig of brunette. The spouse does not experience the working life of their partner, but they know how to get through their own day without the unplanned application of cosmetics to clothing. We judge based on what we know, which is often tremendously skewed away from the facts.

Judge and Rectify

Should we all junk our mistake-finding binoculars and embrace a mushy philosophy of non-judgment? Nope. Pattern recognition and inference are homo sapiens standard issue. Generalizations about overall fidelity based on assessment of fundamentals is good practice. If a used car smells funny and has trash in the back seat, you probably don't want to buy. If it's old but clean, freshly vacuumed, and glistens from a recent wash, consider making a purchase. Keep doing what you always have done.

We can, however, change our philosophy toward mistakes. Some of us are big-picture types, and unconcerned with inconsequential details. Others are compulsive perfectionists, afraid to announce anything unless we have triple-checked every single part. Both of these paths lead to failure. People reject error-riddled work, even from high-minded dreamers. People never receive error-free work, because flawlessness is virtually unattainable.

The Third Way

You will be judged on the quality of what you produce. You can't hand-waive over details or endlessly obsess and never deliver. Instead, we must embrace that there are no minor mistakes. Every error is gigantic, at least to someone. Bold choices and epic failures are impressive; humdrum suggestions presented with countless annoyances end up in the trash heap. You will make mistakes, but none of them need to be small. Brilliance is only recognized when accompanied by competence.

Miss a spot while shaving or painting or mowing the lawn and your overseer will expect further errors and general ineptitude. Complete the task perfectly and you will merely meet expectations. Do something wild, inventive, and potentially disastrous—and become famously ingenious. Never, however, make a small mistake. Big mistakes are the only ones worth making.

Further Reading:

• Coping.org on Perfectionism
• NYTimes on Ebay and Spelling
• Cape Code Times on Small Errors

Would you like to leave a comment? Read this.

###

Next:
<< The Clueless and the Cowards

Previous:
The Public Radio Paradox >>