How To Flush Away Your Mistakes
Last week, I played left field in my slow pitch softball game. I grew up playing baseball, so I have a pretty solid understanding of the fundamentals.
With no runners on base, the batter hit a ground ball that got past the infield, and rolled quickly toward me in the outfield. The fundamentally sound way of playing this ground ball would be to get down on one knee and field the ball with two hands. That way, if it takes any funny bounces, it would bounce off my chest and fall in front of me.
I didn’t do that.
The ball looked like it was rolling smoothly, and wasn’t moving too fast, so I ran toward the ball as it rolled toward me. At the last second, the ball took a funny bounce, went past my glove, and kept rolling. And rolling and rolling and rolling. The batter ended up with an inside-the-park home run, instead of just a single.
The funny thing is, there was no reason for me to play the ball like that. If I had taken my time, played it safe, and gotten down on a knee, the batter still would have just hit a single. The only reason I didn’t take my time was because I felt like I didn’t need to. I felt like I was too good.
But in the end, I felt like an idiot.
I’m consistently intrigued by the paradox that when we assume that we are accurate, we have a greater chance of being inaccurate. I’ve assumed accuracy, and then sent emails with wrong links, incorrect dates, and unintended recipients. But when I assume inaccuracy, I take the time to double check my work, and become more accurate in doing so.
Immediately after making the error in softball, I starting hoping they wouldn’t hit another one my way. Hoping a ball doesn’t come your way is bad place to be when you’re playing softball. Learning from a mistake is productive, and I immediately learned my lesson. But dwelling on a mistake is counter-productive. It puts you in a mental frame that’s more likely to continue making mistakes.
Daniel Pink keeps a plastic toilet on his desk, to remind himself to flush away silly mistakes. This is inspired by one of the best to ever play softball, Jennie Finch, who also kept a tiny plastic toilet in the dugout for her and her teammates.
Flushing away mistakes is a practice that takes practice. It’s not easy, especially when you knew better already.
But the very best realize that quickly learning from (and then forgetting) their mistakes is key in making them the best.
Good luck out there.
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