What if your biggest mistakes aren’t failures—they’re clues?
We’ve been taught to avoid errors at all costs. To hide them, fix them quickly, and move on. But when the same mistake happens twice, it’s not a sign of incompetence. It’s a signal that the system is broken.
Here’s the truth: Repeated mistakes are not about you. They’re about the rules you’re following.
The Blame Game
A chef burns the same dish every Friday night. The manager fires the chef. The new chef burns the dish.
We blame people first. But people don’t fail—systems do.
A nurse administers the wrong medication. The hospital disciplines her. But the real issue? The labels on the vials are identical, and the lighting in the storage room is dim.
Mistakes are rarely about effort or intent. They’re about design.
The Myth of the Single Error
A pilot doesn’t crash a plane because they forgot one step. They crash because seven small failures lined up like dominoes.
Repeated mistakes are a pattern. Patterns point to structure.
- A freelancer misses deadlines because clients approve drafts late.
- A team argues in meetings because agendas aren’t shared in advance.
- A gym loses members because the showers are always cold.
Fix the structure, not the symptom.
Mapping the Invisible
Systems are like rivers. They flow where the terrain guides them.
A bakery owner kept running out of flour. She blamed her staff. Then she drew a map of the kitchen. The flour was stored behind the oven, out of sight. No one remembered to check it. She moved the flour bin. The problem vanished.
To see the system, ask:
- Where does the problem happen? (Not “who”)
- When does it happen? (Triggers, timing)
- What tools are involved? (Forms, software, layouts)
Draw it. Literally. A sketch reveals what words hide.
The Power of Tiny Levers
Toyota’s factory workers can stop the assembly line if they spot a flaw. This “pull the cord” rule transformed manufacturing.
Small changes in the system create big shifts:
- A teacher noticed students interrupted less when she sat in a circle, not at a desk.
- A CEO cut meeting lengths by 25% after removing chairs from the conference room.
- A writer stopped procrastinating by storing her phone in a timed lockbox until noon.
You don’t need overhaul. You need observation.
How to Spot Your System
- Track the “When” and “Where”
Next time a mistake happens, jot down:- Time of day
- Who was nearby
- Tools you were using
Patterns will emerge.
- Ask “Why?” Five Times
- Why did the project fail? “The timeline was too tight.”
- Why was the timeline tight? “The client changed the scope.”
- Why wasn’t the scope clarified earlier? “We skipped the intake questionnaire.”
- Why? “It’s buried in our onboarding email.”
- Why? “No one updated the template since 2018.”
Now you’re getting somewhere.
- Steal from Better Systems
A coffee shop owner kept messing up orders. She visited a sushi restaurant and noticed chefs using color-coded tickets. She adopted the system. Errors dropped 80%.
The Stories We Ignore
In 1986, the Challenger shuttle exploded because engineers ignored a pattern: O-rings failed in cold weather. They blamed “bad luck” instead of redesigning the seals.
Your repeated mistakes are your O-rings. They’re not random. They’re reports.
The Courage to Redesign
Admitting a system is broken feels personal. It’s not.
A designer realized clients hated his concepts because he skipped the research phase. He added a $500 discovery fee to every project. Clients pushed back at first. Then they loved the results. Referrals tripled.
Good systems don’t restrict freedom. They create it.
Try This Today
- Pick one recurring frustration
Late invoices? Missed workouts? Heated arguments? - Draw the system
Use sticky notes. Doodle. Map where the problem lives. - Change one thing
- Move the invoice folder to your desk.
- Lay out workout clothes the night before.
- Start meetings with 60 seconds of silence.
- Wait. Watch. Repeat.
The Takeaway
Mistakes are not your enemy. Ignoring their message is.
Stop fixing errors. Start fixing the structures that create them.
The future belongs to those who see systems—not just symptoms.
What will you redesign first?
P.S. The opposite of reading this post? Rereading it. Then drawing one system that’s been bothering you. Start now.