However, as a manager, I invite you to dive into the concept of "manageable mistakes" and see what positive outcomes it can bring for you and your team..
I'll illustrate this with a hypothetical situation. It's an example I received many years ago in a management course.
I'll use a hypothetical situation, an example I received many years ago in a management course. It was about a CEO of a large NGO who, at one point, found an employee's original birth certificate on the floor of his office. This NGO was involved in placing orphaned children with families and maternity homes. Losing an original birth certificate meant a halt in their ongoing activities, and, of course, a lot of time and effort dealing with the bureaucracy to obtain a duplicate certificate.
At that moment, the trainer explained the manager had two options: to go to the employee, show him that he had made a mistake, lost the document, and talked about the potential negative impact of his actions if the manager hadn't found the certificate.
or
the option the manager chose, which was not to say anything, let the employee go to the authorities where he had to submit the document, get his application rejected, return to the office, search for the certificate, and go through the emotions of realizing that he could have lost the certificate and forced to find solutions.
Our manager opted for the second option precisely because he understood that this mistake, given that he found the certificate, would not have a devastating impact on them as an organization. He knew that letting his employee go through this emotional experience would help him avoid a similar situation in the future.
The strong emotion the employee had to overcome in such situations creates a powerful anchor in his mind and memory so that in a similar document-related situation, he will undoubtedly double-check all documents and the area where he handled documents, probably not just once but maybe three times.
You might say that such a situation creates trauma for the adult employee. "Trauma" is a strong word, but it certainly creates a strong anchor, one with the best intentions behind it.
I invite you to think about this technique, to consider whether you often extinguish fires too quickly or whether you frequently go immediately to your employees and, instead of letting them experience the situation, because, as I mentioned, you know it will benefit them in the long run and the short-term danger is managed, you give them a lecture, thus building a reputation as a nag.