Why Watching for Mistakes Could Be Destroying Your Team

Know that one of the most destructive forces in a workplace is when it becomes dominated by watchfulness for mistakes. Employees become more concerned with spotting a colleague’s slip than with perfecting their own work. And when one of them commits even a small error, the rest feel a hidden joy, as though a burden has been lifted from them, not because they hate mistakes, but because they find in them a comfort for themselves.

Such an environment yields no productivity and breeds no loyalty. It opens the door to gloating and closes the door to sincere advice. In it arise those who love to see others stumble, and it attracts people of negative spirit. As for those with good hearts, over time they are influenced by the prevailing atmosphere, and without intending it, they drift into the same behavior.

Let everyone know that Humans, by nature, is prone to error no matter how hard they strives. If a mistake occurs despite effort (without negligence or carelessness) then decision-makers must make space for encouragement instead of surveillance, and for support instead of punishment. For when a person finds in their work those who assist them and overcome their slip, they becomes more upright in their duty and nearer to sincerity in it.