Mistakes happen every day. From small day-to-day errors to major blunders, we all make them. So why do people turn them into such an issue? And why do so many people try to brush them under the carpet of everyday working life?

Especially in the creative industries, we need to talk more about mistakes. With the right attitude and tactics, we can prevent them turning into real problems or costing more than they should. In fact, they can be an agency’s greatest superpower.

A PROBLEM SHARED

It starts with realising that there is no point suffering in silence, burying your head in the sand and not owning up when things go wrong. Whether you’ve booked the wrong stock for a photoshoot or neglected to set up artwork files correctly, the biggest danger is not the mistake itself, but wishing it away while it snowballs out of control.

I’ve seen it happen. The constant low-level stress, the little white lies, averted eyes or vague answers to direct questions; all while something doesn’t get done, someone is let down, and the project and team suffer. As the creative industry is so reliant on well-functioning teams, this can be particularly insidious.

Mistakes are like little scratches – caught early, all you need is a kiss and a sticking plaster; left too long and they can easily turn into a festering wound. That forgotten stock can either lead to a fast-tracked reordering to make a shoot in time, or it can escalate into a last-minute global operation to make a project happen – with massively inflated budget and stress (I know, because I’ve been there).

But this change in mindset needs to go right down to the granular level. It needs to be applied any time you tried something and it didn’t work out. If you want to get into the habit of treating mistakes differently – turning them from signs of personal failure and negativity into what could even be an opportunity – then you need to put the mindset into practice in your everyday.

DITCHING THE BLAME GAME

Alongside this, it’s crucial that agencies emphasise that mistakes will not lead to repercussions if shared honestly and promptly. If you take away the fear of criticism and negative consequences, then the positivity will follow. If not, it will eventually lead to a toxic environment, with a culture of blame and resentment. Too many companies don’t encourage a positive attitude to doing wrong – a Gallup study a few years ago showed that globally, only around one in five business leaders agreed that their company created “an environment where people can try, fail and learn from mistakes”.

This challenge applies in creative agencies too – not enough thought goes into constructing an environment and processes that encourage a more mindful approach to sharing mistakes. Yet, knowing when to own up and ask for help creates an environment of trust. People know they can rely on you to ask for help when you need it – and they can trust that you are getting on with things when you don’t. In our era of hybrid working, this has never been more valuable to a leader or manager.

The key is that you need to work at cultivating this positive attitude, you can’t leave it to chance. At Glock we instil in new joiners that we value open conversations about making mistakes. We have baked it into our onboarding process and mention it regularly in weekly team catch-ups and learnings. All our managers are briefed on the language around using mistakes as a superpower. We try to create an environment of security, where we stick to our rules that a mistake shared is not a problem. It’s about normalising mistakes – letting people know that mistakes happen and are nothing to worry about.

Mistakes are like little scratches – caught early, all you need is a kiss and a sticking plaster; left too long and they can easily turn into a festering wound

In the creative industry especially, mistakes can lead to exciting new prospects. Not being afraid of making mistakes – or experimenting with making them – can be constructive and lead to better creative output. It allows you to play around with key visuals, say, or experiment with new materials. The golden ratio, colour theory, even brand guidelines – are all rules to be broken. What some might deem a classic mistake of kerning could end up giving a wordmark its unique character and impact.

Which brings us back to mistakes as a superpower. Mistakes can become true creative enablers. For example, we once forgot a social post for a client and only realised when chased. A fast-paced brainstorm turned into a powerful creative idea – and the online response developed into a global campaign. As it was, we owned up and delivered above and beyond. If we had tried to fudge it, ignore it or make excuses, we would have ended up with a disgruntled client or worse.

This is exactly why we encourage an open conversation when things wrong, and encourage people to discard the negative connotations and share. With that will come innovation and better creative work. All agencies should support this change in mindset – we should all look to turn mistakes into our greatest assets.

Carsten Glock is founder of agency Glock; glock-uk.com; TOp image: Shutterstock