Mistakes

I think I have said it before, but the definition of a friend that I like is, “a friend is someone who, when you make a mistake, does not think you have done a permanent job.”
Mistakes.  I make em.  I wish I did not, but I do. I do not mean to, but they seem inevitable with the passage of time.  It seems some folk like to pretend they never happen.  They cover them up, and continue to act like they are perfect.  I need to acknowledge that I make them.  I would be friendless if I walked away when mistakes are made.
I needed to let someone know that what I had done was a mistake.  It was not easy to do.  I have heaps of time for that person, as it did not spell the end of the story.  We are still friends.  Both of us have fallen short at times, but it seems we both know it just happens.  Another time I knew I had let down a sponsor.  To me, on that scale, to do something once is perhaps ignorance.  To do it twice is negligence.
It seems to me though, I can learn heaps from them, if I acknowledge them, and move on.  It seems a mistake can be a stepping stone, or a stumbling block.  As in so much, the choice is mine.
One of the big things mistakes teach me, is that I am a part of the human race.  I am yet to meet a contemporary that is perfect. 
It seems so much in business is set up for a perfect person, and yet all fall short.  The perfect person is not out there.  What seems to throw a spanner in the works, is that systems are not built with human frailty in mind.  Fail and you are disqualified.  Perhaps the pendulum will swing back the other way, but right now it is hard.  Someone said “most people are promoted to the level of their incompetence.”  I have seen that as true is many cases, but not all cases.  Most of us are prepared to function within our comfort zone, and face challenges on our terms.
By the same token I do what is needed.  There are heaps eyeing off my position and I need to defend it, if it is what I want.  I knew someone who was being tested, and just wrote what was expected to make the grade.  They did not necessarily agree, but they knew if they stated otherwise, it would cost them big time.  Their thinking was, just pass.  They did, and then they were in a position to make changes if they needed to.  There are some things where no compromise is acceptable.  There are others, where it is just a case of doing what is needed.
I think the saying goes “he who never made a mistake, never made anything.”  It is certainly preferable they do not happen, but they do.  I can either learn from both big mistakes and small and move on, or stay there.