This morning, on NPR's Morning Edition the guest was billionaire Wilbur Ross. For those who do not know the man, he's made a bulk of his living turning around companies and selling them and earned a handful of unpleasant nicknames for his mode of operations, including "vulture." Regardless of his mode of operations, in this interview, he makes a point that when things go wrong, so often people blame others or circumstances that they have no control over. For example, if a business is doing poorly, management might cite labor unions as the problem. Manufacturers might blame lower priced labor in China undermining the company. Rarely do people look at themselves and the actions they take on a daily basis as something they can improve upon to turn a company around.
Who do you blame when you do not get the results you were hoping for?
If you blame yourself to the point of being paralyzed by your fear, this is as big of a problem as blaming everyone but yourself. Instead, note what went according to play. Look at what factors you had an influence in and what factors you did not or could not anticipate. If there were problems within your control, what can you do differently next time? Is the damaged contained, or will more problems spring forth if you don't act immediately? By answering these questions, you can get a more objective measure of who is to blame, if anyone. Then, make changes in your behavior so that it never happens again. Learning from your mistakes is sometimes the most poignant lesson of all.
No comments:
Post a Comment