Jasmine Koster is the Laboratory Manager for Plum Creek Water Reclamation Authority. She has over 20 years of lab experience spanning indoor air quality, drinking water, and wastewater analyses. She currently serves as the Membership Communication board member for RMWQAA. 

Have you ever had one of those days, weeks, or months where it felt like you couldn’t do anything without making some sort of mistake? When these instances happen to us at work it can be especially discouraging since we work in an industry that is so dependent on accuracy and attention to detail. The data we produce can drive important decisions or affect the ability to meet permit or regulation requirements. So, at times, little mistakes can have big consequences. Alas, we are all human and mistakes are going to happen. So how do we recover when a mistake is made and most importantly, how do we keep it from happening again?

First and foremost, if you recognize that you’ve made a mistake, admit it! Talk to a lead, supervisor, or manager to get guidance on if and how the mistake can be corrected or accounted for.

Secondly, whether you or someone else discovered your mistake, take responsibility. This is not the time to shift blame onto others. Remember, this is not personal, it’s business and the goal should be to correct the issue and prevent recurrence in a timely and constructive manner. Even in our personal lives, admitting when we are wrong and being accountable for our actions goes a long way in mending, maintaining, and/or restoring relationships and trust.

Next you will want to create a plan to fix the mistake and follow through with it, don’t assume that someone else will fix it for you. Again, this should involve help and guidance from those with the necessary knowledge, experience, and training to ensure the appropriate corrections are made. The resolution may involve as little as documentation of the error or making a correction to a report. Or the remedy may have much larger ramifications and require actions such as reanalysis of affected samples, resampling, or recalling data.

Once the mistake has been, or is in process of being corrected, the next step is to determine and understand what led to the error. This is an important part of correcting the mistake and preventing it from happening again (you know we love a root cause analysis!). For example, was it due to a lack of attention to detail or distraction? Could it have been a misunderstanding of directions or miscommunication? Was it because you were rushing or taking shortcuts?    

In some cases, once you have a good idea of what led to the mistake you can use it as an opportunity for growth. You can take action to create and put in systems to prevent you and others from repeating it and apply your new knowledge going forward. In other instances, you may only be able to reflect on what you learned from the experience.

Most importantly, be kind to yourself. Although we want to prevent them as much as possible, mistakes are a natural part of life. If you spend too much time dwelling on past mistakes it can hinder your progress and prevent you from focusing on the present (and distract you and lead to more mistakes!). Treat yourself with the same understanding and compassion you would give a friend. Once the correction has been made, you have learned from it and done what you can to prevent it from happening again—allow yourself to move on.

By following these steps, you demonstrate your commitment to doing the right thing. This level of accountability will not go unnoticed and who knows, maybe your mistake can lead to good things-process or training improvements, learning opportunities, and resiliency. By sharing your mistakes, you can invite empathy and connection with others; because what’s better than learning from our own mistakes? Learning from others’ mistakes!