5 “Small” Mistakes with Far-Reaching Consequences
“He’s a big picture thinker.” “She doesn’t like to get bogged down in the details.” I hear these phrases often when someone describes one of their leaders or team members. Many leaders and employees can fall short when it comes to paying attention to details, and the consequences of small mistakes can be big. Take, for example, the blunder that happened at Bithumb, a South Korean crypto exchange. They intended to offer a contest prize of 620,000 won (South Korean currency), which would have been equivalent to about $425. However, an employee mistakenly awarded 620,000 Bitcoin valued at $40 billion dollars!
Can small mistakes have big consequences? Definitely. We can all think of small mistakes in both our personal and professional lives that had further-reaching consequences than we could have imagined. From missing a key part of the instructions to not carefully reading the language in a contract. From failing to ask for guidance to not having adequate experience for a particular task or role. These are only a few ways we can end up with small mistakes that result in painful outcomes.
But how do these mistakes occur? Here are five common factors that contribute to mistakes and the far-reaching effects they can have.
1. Rushing it.
I have a habit of rushing to get things done, even things I enjoy doing. I have been that way for a very long time. When I used to backpack with friends, I was known as the guy who never stopped to enjoy the mountain peak – I just kept going! I also do that when working on home projects like painting. I was painting my daughter’s house and had a ladder on top of the porch roof. I failed to take the time to put down a tarp (who needs a tarp, right!) and… you are correct, I changed the shingle colors from gray to brown. 30 seconds is all it would have taken to put down that tarp! Rushing is a very common contributor to mistakes.
2. Failure to focus.
Focus is essential to doing anything correctly. For example, playing sports, writing reports, and driving all require the ability to stay concentrated on what is in front of and around you while tuning out distractions. In 2023, 324,800 people were injured and 3,275 were killed by distracted drivers. From texting, to selecting music on the radio, to looking at that car sitting on the side of the road – the slightest amount of drift in focus can have consequences that last a lifetime. The Bitcoin illustration from earlier serves as a great example of what can happen when you fail to pay attention. It is important to stop and think for a moment to ensure accuracy before executing a decision.
3. Lack of redundancy.
I did my doctoral studies when the internet was in its very infant stage and cloud-based computing was a phrase that would cause confusion since it was years away. I will never forget how a guy I casually knew lost the only copy of his dissertation after his car was stolen. He had no plan B – no redundancy. It would be an understatement to say that I was hyper-fearful of my dissertation being lost or stolen after that. I had paper copies saved in my office, a copy saved on my computer, a back-up saved in my glove box, as well as one in my safe, and who knows where else. Someday, years from now, an archeologist will discover a copy buried somewhere in town! Remember, an absence of redundancy can feel like a small thing until it becomes a very big crisis.
4. Inexperience.
“I may be ignorant, but I ain’t stupid.” This quote, from actress Sissy Spacek in her famous movie Coal Miner’s Daughter, captures the difference between lack of experience and plain old stupidity. It is common for someone who lacks experience and knowledge to make mistakes. This is far different than making mistakes by not doing what you know should be done. Our office at The Center Consulting Group uses a cloud-based storage service. A few months ago, I decided to “clean up” one of the files and started deleting things I thought were no longer needed. That was until our two in-house staff experts started hearing the ding notification as they watched important files disappear before their eyes. Fortunately, they were able to rescue the files and asked me (really, told me) to please never delete files without checking with them first😊. My inexperience and failure to ask questions first resulted in a mess!
5. Overconfidence.
Sometimes we make small mistakes because of a lack of experience, but other times, it is due to the very opposite – overconfidence. The longer we build on our experience, the easier it is to think we no longer need to learn and ask for input from others to test our assumptions. Our experience and confidence can also cause us to underestimate the risks associated with our actions. As Dr. Ozan Toy, MD, notes, this “Overconfidence bias occurs when individuals overestimate their abilities, knowledge or control over situations.” Overconfidence can fuel pride and arrogance and lead to outcomes the Bible refers to as “disgrace.” It convinces us that we do not need to ask for input or advice because we are the expert. Overconfidence can have negative consequences on the soundness of our decisions as well as on the organization and our team.
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Jay Desko is the President & CEO of The Center Consulting Group and brings experience in the areas of organizational assessment, leadership coaching, decision-making, and strategic questioning. Jay’s degrees include an M.Ed. in Instructional Systems Design from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Leadership from The Union Institute.
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