‘It’s my bad’.

As in the quirky expression our American cousins use when they admit to doing something wrong.

I’ve made a few mistakes recently and thought I should explain myself.

I used to have my newsletters proofed 3 times before they went out. The odd mistake would occasionally sneak by, but not too often.

Now they get proofed once at the writing stage and that’s it. It’s a time vs productivity thing.

Of course (after the proofing) it still has to be cut and pasted, sometimes we add the odd graphic and then it’s released to tens of thousands of happy readers.

Happy?

Well not quite.

There have been mistakes in my last three mailings. Not big ones, just daft typos.

But that doesn’t deter the grammar police. They’re in there like a shot. Pointing out that I wrote ‘word’ instead of ‘work’ and ‘Start’ instead of ‘Star’.

That’s fine.

In fact I wish they would read my books and point out the mistakes. At least my publishers can fix them in a revised edition.

But with a newsletter, when it’s gone it’s gone.

Here’s the thing. In my last newsletter there were 258 words which were perfect. But did they get a mention? No, just the one word that was wrong. Easier to point out what’s wrong than what’s right.

It’s like your work, especially if you’re the boss. You end up focusing on the one thing that your team member got wrong rather than the 258 things they got right.

Let’s Flip It

I remember when I first read the One Minute Manager, being struck by the simplicity of ‘Catch people doing something right’. 

So here’s my challenge to you.

Thank 5 people today for what they are doing right.

Simple but is it easy?

Let me know how you get on.

Be Brilliant!