ALAMAK! - how to deal with mistakes

We as humans often find ourselves in the midst of mistakes - be it preventable or not.

In Scott Berkun's article, he discusses how we can actually know mistakes, how to pro-actively prevent them and yet not over compensate.

For readers who want the summary, here goes:

The Learning From Mistakes Checklist

•  Accepting responsibility makes learning possible.
• Don't equate making mistakes with being a mistake.
• You can't change mistakes, but you can choose how to respond to them.
• Growth starts when you can see room for improvement.
• Work to understand why it happened and what the factors were.
• What information could have avoided the mistake?
• What small mistakes, in sequence, contributed to the bigger mistake?
• Are there alternatives you should have considered but did not?
• What kinds of changes are required to avoid making this mistake again?What kinds of change are difficult for you?
• How do you think your behavior should/would change in you were in a similar situation again?
• Work to understand the mistake until you can make fun of it (or not want to kill others that make fun).
• Don't over-compensate: the next situation won't be the same as the last.

For the full article, read here - Lifehacker Link