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When we were developing the Barefoot wine brand, we drove our staff crazy. Every mistake, every glitch, and every accident would result in a brainstorming session to prevent the same thing from reoccurring.<\/p>\n
Our people would retort with, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it! It\u2019s all taken care of!\u201d and \u201cLook, we\u2019ve solved the problem\u2014can\u2019t we just move on?!\u201d as if the only thing we were worried about is quickly getting past the problem. But neither one of those responses does anything to prevent the same issue from happening again. The opportunity is still there for a painful and expensive issue to present itself in the future.<\/p>\n
As leaders and business-owners, we took the philosophical position that preventing a problem was more important than brushing it under the rug, washing our hands of any wrongdoing, or coming up with a quick fix. It will <\/em>come back to haunt you! And it will hurt your business if you don\u2019t take it seriously.<\/p>\n So, what are your options? One option is to be proactive instead of reactive. To put it simply, start to expect a mistake, glitch, or understanding before it happens. Don\u2019t just wait for it to show up a second time. Do what\u2019s necessary to prevent it in advance.<\/p>\n For example, create a crosschecking system. Keep double-checking your work before it moves out of your hands, and make it a habit. Set up other crosschecks too, like getting another set of eyes, to prevent the mistake from happening again.<\/p>\n Once you establish these procedures, use them! And frequently. We would ask our people for a rewrite of a procedure. We would then require a checklist if the rewrite wasn\u2019t enough. And if that <\/em>didn\u2019t work, we\u2019d ask for a signoff sheet. If all of those options failed, we would finally issue a pink termination notice.<\/p>\n When you choose to be reactive instead of proactive, you\u2019re telling your boss, \u201cI really don\u2019t care about this job; I just need the money!\u201d Show your customers and your higher-ups that you do <\/em>care. Create new procedures that slash the likelihood of a mistake\u2019s reoccurrence. Act proactively to improve everyone\u2019s<\/em> experience\u2014not just your own.<\/p>\n Because we were so nitpicky about proactive prevention, one of our people protested, \u201cYou guys are trying to make everything idiot proof!\u201d To which we replied, \u201cNo we\u2019re not, we are just trying to make things idiot resistant!\u201d He then responded, \u201cBut even now, as we sit here, trying to make things idiot resistant, they\u2019re building a better idiot!\u201d<\/p>\n After all, it\u2019s because of this better idiot that proactive people will always be essential and won\u2019t ever run out of jobs to do. This is why companies with these kinds of people will ultimately have the best practices and the most success despite the \u201cbetter idiots\u201d!<\/p>\n