One element of your professional life that isn’t typically discussed before you begin is the risk of making a major mistake.
We all make mistakes, and we may all be comfortable with the prospect of getting things wrong from time to time.
However, when you enter into a corporate structure the risks of any one individual can scale quite significantly, and we may not be aware of this until a major mistake occurs.
There are two things that will help prepare you for this risk. One is understanding that it can happen, and the other is understanding how the organisation will respond when it does.
Major mistakes are valuable learning opportunities for both the individual and the organisation. As Thomas John Watson Sr from IBM is credited with saying *
“Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?”
This doesn’t mean you need to make a major mistake to gain experience. Nor does it mean you should take a passive approach to this risk.
It’s just very helpful to understand that it can happen, so best be prepared for it.
* I was unable to identify the source of this quote.
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