Do Not Punish Mistakes! Welcome Them!
I made a huge mistake early in my career. I thought I was going to get fired. My manager just said, ‘Just learn from it.’
I saw this quote from a junior engineer reflecting on their early experience, and while it sounds enlightened and kind on the surface, it’s actually not the right stance.
A better response would have been: “Let’s all learn from this. How do we fix the environment so that an engineer—especially someone new—was in a position to make that mistake in the first place?”
That’s the role of a good manager. Not to deflect with well-meaning platitudes. And not to quietly place the weight of the failure on the most junior person in the room.
Most mistakes by junior developers don’t come from carelessness. They come from systemic issues: • being left to work in isolation • unclear expectations • lack of mentorship or feedback loops • exclusion from key context and decisions
When someone surfaces a mistake, they’re handing you a mirror. Not a liability.
A strong team uses that moment to ask, why was this possible? and what can we improve?
Blaming individuals might feel like you’re being decisive, but it only drives problems underground. That’s how issues get hidden instead of solved.
This might sound unreal, utopistic, or theoretical—but many of the problems people complain about every day stem from bad culture. If we want to change things, we have to start enacting cultural change. And that starts at the top of the company.
Companies should really be schools of leadership. Not just places where people ship code or close tickets, but where managers are constantly learning how to build safer, healthier, and more resilient teams.
Think about the Andon cord in Lean manufacturing. What’s the first thing a manager does when someone pulls the cord to signal a problem on the line?They thank them. Then they go to the floor and help fix the system.
I guess this falls into the classic “If Japan Can… Why Can’t We?” documentary material and is a testimony of how Deming’s teaching are still relevant.
Originally posted on LinkedIn.