Mistakes are underrated

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” - George Bernard Shaw

Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone understands their value or takes advantage of the information they provide. Mistakes are painful, frustrating, expensive and at times dangerous, but the reality is that they are valuable in the evolution of everything from creating a better smartphone to developing lifesaving technologies. I believe you learn as much from your mistakes as you do from your successes. Avoiding mistakes means one of two things. Either you’re not trying hard enough or you’ve learned enough from previous mistakes to avoid repeating them. The latter is good, the former bad. According to Don Dodge of Google “achieving 65% of the impossible is better than 100% of the ordinary”. I’ll buy that.

Unfortunately few understand the need for mistakes and the value they represent. That’s why I read with great interest an article by Susan Carr in Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare titled “On Being Wrong (and Human)”. In it Susan states that “I’ve developed a soft spot for error—not for the stubbornness and denial that too often accompany error, nor of course for the harm that can result from it. I’ve been charmed recently by people who are comfortable admitting error and who accept that being wrong is part of being human. Learning to accept and even embrace the fact that mistakes are inevitable establishes humility as the foundation for improving performance and living contentedly with others and ourselves.

Accepting the fact that we all make mistakes is an important step toward developing and accepting systems, such as bedside barcoding, that can protect patients from error and harm. When we go beyond acceptance and join with colleagues in appreciation of our occasional slips and lapses, error becomes an opportunity to connect around our shared fate.”

The pharmacy industry as a whole remains incapable of embracing the concept of “the mistake” as an opportunity to advance our practice model, and thus improve patient care. As mentioned by Susan Carr I’m not interested in the mistakes that cause harm to patients, but rather mistakes generated by trying new ways of doing things.

Our industry is painfully aware of the need for change, but unwilling to make the mistakes necessary to bring about those changes. Something isn’t new until you discover it, and mistakes are the foundation of discovery. One time during my childhood my brother and I decided to play “basketball-baseball”. He threw the basketball like a baseball and I was supposed to hit it with a baseball bat. I made great contact with the basketball. Unfortunately the bat bounced back and clocked me across the face. I ended up on the ground with a knot the size of a grapefruit on my head. Guess what I learned from that mistake. A painful mistake to be sure, but one that taught me something I will never forget.

The profession needs bold new leaders to take control of the profession and try new things; a new clinical model or a new way to control medication distribution with automation and technology perhaps. Regardless of the goal it’s time to try something new. Don’t think of the potential failure, instead think of the potential value. Mistakes and failure will be part of the process. Embrace them and learn. The end result will be a better profession.