My regular readers will have noticed that I’ve made a couple of mistakes lately.

Firstly regarding trusts having to register for tax (a whopper), and secondly, by cutting and pasting a lease and missing out the important cancellation clause.

This brings me to a fundamental in management that few people adopt.

I make it quite clear to my staff that they are allowed to make mistakes. I’m not talking here about sloppy work, I’m talking about genuine mistakes arising from lack of knowledge or experience.

If they do make a mistake, they know that they can come to me and we’ll fix it together with no recriminations.

Why do I take this policy? Because if you can’t make a mistake, you’ll stick only to what you’re comfortable with, and will be unwilling to test new boundaries. The result is that you will stagnate and eventually become a dinosaur.

So, allow your staff to make mistakes. Let them share in the correction process and help them to learn new skills.