Let Your People Fail
A short note on parent-child, and manager-subordinate relationships.
I remember being seven years old and watching my dad working on his 1971 Ford Falcon.
I asked him to help but was brushed aside as being too small.
A few years later, in my early teens, he let me contribute — or at least try to.
But after making a couple of rookie mistakes, he lost his patience and nerve with me, assumed control, and I became a spectator —not really learning in the process.
Unfortunately, this characterized my relationship with my dad to the point where I just stopped asking to help because I didn’t want to cop an earful.
Today, I’m 37 and my dad is no longer with us — and I cherish the only thing DIY task he taught me to do well — changing a tire.
Nowadays, if I need help with DIY work, I turn to YouTube.
Sadly, this is common not amongst parent-child relationships, but in the workplace too.
Many managers don’t give our people the freedom to try things and fail.
Instead, they micromanage.
Instead, people seek consensus instead of acting with conviction.
As a result, we never truly grow our wings and learn to fly on our own.
If you’re a parent or a manager — empower people to try.
Empower them to fail.
This is how they best learn.
Have patience.
In the long-run, you will both win.
