Book Review: Will Your Next Mistake Be Fatal?

Will Your Next Mistake Be Fatal?
Avoiding the Chain of Mistakes that Can Destroy Your Organization
By Robert Mittelstaedt, Wharton School Publishing, 2004

Are economic development organizations subject to fatal mistakes and disasters? Folks, all organizations are subject to these situations. For that reason, this book review might be important to you.

Robert Mittelstaedt has done a masterful job of showing all of us how "fatal mistakes" occur in organizations (and communities I might add) and how we can see them coming, avoid them, or deal with them if they occur.

Some red flags can indicate that your organization is predisposed to big-time blunders, including:

• “Failure to believe information that you do not like” or to “evaluate assumptions.”
• “Success that breeds arrogance and adversely affects decision-making.”
• “Frequent communications absence or failure.”
• “Cultures that suppress initiative, information or action.”
• “Failure to evaluate past mistakes and learn from them.”

In addition, some signals warn that a seemingly minor businsess verge of spinning out of control. These signs should always raise concerns. They include:

• “Situations you have not seen before” or “unusual or rapidly changing data.”
• “Results ‘on plan’ through luck.”
• “Failures of control systems.”
• “Need to retrain significant numbers of personnel because they are not performing.”
• “Frequent operational problems that are not addressed by standard procedures.”
• “Problems caused by communications issues.”
• “Problems where help was available but not utilized.”

Research and experience offer several insights into how to avoid fatal mistakes, including:

• “Fly the airplane” – This old aviation maxim tells pilots that even when things are going wrong, their primary function is still to fly the airplane.
• “Clarify responsibilities” – Delineate who is responsible for what; leave no gray areas.
• “Stop and figure out what’s going on” – If something just doesn’t make sense, don’t continue to do business as normal. Call a timeout and figure out what’s happening.
• “People are usually at the root of the problem” – This may seem harsh, but the phrase “human error” exists for a reason. Most errors with fatal outcomes stem from multiple mistakes that can be traced back to people.
• “Failure to analyze data points and ask what they mean” – Especially under pressure, people tend to overlook or rationalize data that doesn’t make sense.
“Across industries and situations, ineffective communications can accelerate deterioration of a mistake chain” – Communication glitches are extremely dangerous.
• “Test and retest assumptions” – Faulty assumptions lie at the heart of any mistake.
• “Believe the data” – Trust that your indicators are telling you something important. At Three Mile Island, people ignored indicators that were sending warning signals.
• “Train for the ‘can’t happen’ scenario” – If nothing else, this will open people’s minds to a broader view of what can go wrong.

Mittelstaedt provides us with some really sound advice. Heed it!

Buy the book at Amazon.com