How We Understand Errors and Mistakes

Can you imagine how beneficial it would be to have immediate access to information that could lead any person to live a life of continual improvement? Can you envision the transformation in a family's life if all of its members analyzed their decisions and corrected their errors? What if the most effective way parents could manage their children's mistakes was to instill a high sense of responsibility in them without hurting them? What would be the impact on companies and the economy in general if more employees learned from their errors every day? And on a larger scale, how would the world and the environment benefit if we could all learn from historical errors?

In this chapter, we'll begin by differentiating between an error and a mistake, and we'll consider the ways different people react when someone points out errors they've committed.

And as you read, if you wonder why I share some personal experiences with you, it's because I was the first to pointlessly defend my mistakes.

How Do Errors Differ from Mistakes?

You'll notice that the manual contains no complicated terms, yet at this stage I would like to draw the distinction between an error and a mistake. At first glance, both words appear to be synonymous, but there are subtle differences.

The word "error" is derived from the Latin errorem or errare, which means to wander or stray. According to the definition provided by Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th Edition), error "suggests the existence of a standard or guide and straying from the right course through failure to make effective use of this."

On the other hand, the etymology of the word "mistake" stems from the old Norse word mistaka, which means "mis" (wrong) and "taka" (take), or literally: wrongly taken or assumed, thus implying a "misconception or inadvertence." It usually expresses less criticism than an error.

For the purposes of this manual, I will focus primarily on errors, but occasionally you will find that I make this distinction, as in the following section.

A Mistake That Had the Potential to Become a Fatal Error

I used to go to bullfights. One time, when I was seventeen, a bullfighter and family friend was scheduled to fight a one-thousand-pound bull, and he invited me to watch him in a small Mexican town. It was an unforgettable afternoon because I had never had the opportunity to see a fighting bull so close. It's very impressive.

Everything was going fine when suddenly in the middle of the performance, two guys started to fight up in the grandstand. Given the uncertainty of what might happen and concerned about my friend's life, I remember not taking my eyes off of his, especially because he was very close to the animal, whose look made its intentions quite clear. He kept his face immobile as he faced the bull, but even so, he rapidly moved his eyes to see what was going on. Fortunately all ended very well, and he even said that it was one of his best performances.

Following the bullfight, I gave him a big hug and also congratulated him for his success and incredible courage. When I had the opportunity to speak with him for a few minutes, I told him that from my perspective, he had made a very dangerous move that could have cost him his life. I remember he smiled and told me he was surprised I'd noticed it because everything had happened so fast. He added that I was right and that in any case, he should not have done it.

What is still causing me great affection and admiration for my friend is that he took the time to give me a piece of advice that I will never forget: "In my career, Pedro, you cannot make errors because, indeed, you may pay for your distraction with your life; so when you are blessed enough to realize that you did something wrong, it means that life has once again given you the opportunity to instantly remedy your mistake right there, at that precise moment, and you'd better learn from it!

"You are probably too young to understand this in depth, but as you grow up, you will discover that existence is sometimes as risky as a bullfight. So you'd better learn from what you do wrong. That way, I assure you that life (if you view it as a bull like the one you saw me fighting) will have less chance to gore you with its horns. And you must believe me: they are very sharp."

So then, was the matador's distraction an error or a mistake? If the fact that he looked away was simply the wrong thing to do, it would fall into the realm of a mistake. But if you consider that the standards established in a bullfighter's training require him to focus his full attention on the bull's reactions and even try to anticipate them, then straying from that standard constitutes an error. In the case of my friend, that error could have been fatal. In this way, the consequences of our actions define whether we were merely wrong, or if on the contrary, we committed an error.

In those days, I thought I had understood the wonderful life lesson that my friend had given me, summarized in just a few words. But in truth, since I thought I was "smarter" and knew "better" than anyone else, I did not put anything he taught me into practice. Today, with a more mature viewpoint, I cannot fail to recognize that what my friend told me that day could have helped me avoid a considerable number of errors I have made in my life. It's amazing to realize the degree to which our own mistakes can mark our destinies, and all the more if we don't learn from what they teach us.

Common Reactions to Errors

Now let's talk about a topic you could write a book about because it's something you experience every day...