How Can Making Mistakes Make You A Better CEO?

There's an old saying that goes like this, "If you're not failing, you're not trying as hard as you should be." It sounds like really sage advice, doesn't it?

But should you really be measuring success by your screw ups? In today's short video, I'll give you my alternative take.

You can watch today's video above or read the transcript below:

I woke up this morning and I decided, you know what, I want to figure out how I can screw up today. Now, would you think that that's a smart idea for you as a CEO?

Hardly.

So why do you think mistakes are going to make you better? They're not. Don't make mistakes. That's the smartest thing you can do.

Now, obviously, if you do make mistakes, learn from the mistakes because we're all gonna make mistakes. But don't go out and try and make mistakes because somebody told you in some management book you read or some video that you watched from somebody like me that, hey, the secret to success is screwing up. Let's go make some mistakes.

That's idiocy. It's stupid. Don't do it. You don't need to. Try and do the right thing. always. Are you going to screw up? Of course.

Just make sure your screw ups aren't monumental. Make sure your screw ups aren't going to be kill the companies screw ups. That's what you want to avoid.

And you can do that just by thinking things through and being smart, talking to advisors and just doing the right thing. But going out and trying to screw up, which is kind of what the question implies? No, that's just not good business. That's just not smart.

The idea when you do anything is to get it right the first time. And if you don't get it right the first time and get it right the second time. If you don't get it right the second time, then get it right the third time.

But the sooner you get it right, the better off you are. And then obviously learn from your mistakes. But never, ever, ever think because you know, some management guru out there says, the secret to success is screwing up. That's stupid and you're smarter than that. Hope this helps. This is Brett at brettjfox.com. Have a great, great day. Thank you.

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