I was watching an international gymnastics competition online recently. During a warm-up, one of the gymnasts fell off the beam. As a mistake, it was a very neat one – no tangled heap of limbs, just landing on her feet on one side of the beam and jumping straight back on. But in an elite competition? It’s a big issue.
The commentators remarked that she had fallen off the beam to the same side at that point in her routine in earlier rounds as well. One of the commentators, a former gymnast herself, said that if she were the coach, she would want to see the gymnast fall off to the other side next time. I assume the point the commentator was making was that trying to fall on the other side would help the gymnast find her balance.
This set me wondering – can the same concept apply in learning about leadership behaviour? What can we learn from making mistakes opposite to those we usually fall prey to?
<strong>Mistakes are Unavoidable and Perfection is Impossible</strong>
I grew up with the idea that mistakes were to be avoided and that if I only tried hard enough, I would always be able to avoid them. I now know that this isn’t realistic, and that the best I can do as a leader is manage risk rather than make everything perfect. I also know that people who describe every project they have led as a perfect success have either done nothing difficult or are not being honest.
I am a better leader, manager and colleague because of the things I’ve learned from my own mistakes. It often takes a coach or a critical friend to really help spot the patterns of mistakes. They might encourage you to try something different, but probably not to the extent of pushing you into the opposite mistake – the equivalent of trying to fall off the other side of the beam. You could say that trying to do this would make no sense at all, that if I tried it I would be setting myself up to fail. But might I also learn something?
The Time I Fell Off the Other Side of the Beam
I can think of one example where I did it by accident. I am someone who will look to build consensus on difficult issues, and I always have been. However, over the years I’ve learned that I can take this too far, and that sometimes I just have to accept there will be different opinions and make a decision.
Working on a fast-paced project, I had a protracted disagreement among two different teams. Tired and exasperated by the latest reports from one team, I called everyone together to explain what we were going to do to fix things. It turned out, of course, that I hadn’t taken the time to understand all the different points of view, so my plan was nonsense. I fell off the other side of the beam. All I could do was apologise and start again, this time involving everyone and forming a plan that did work.
Even though logically it made sense to make a quick decision because we didn’t have time to waste, learning from that experience was uncomfortable. That mistake felt much worse than expending too much time and effort exploring everyone’s point of view, and the aftermath was definitely food for small-hours reflection. It felt worse because my usual mistake is driven by my personal values, and this contradicted them. It sticks in my mind more than many other experiences, but at least now I handle similar situations much better. It is easier to find the balance.
Have you experienced ‘falling of the other side of the beam’? Has it changed how you approach certain things? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, so please leave a comment!
