How Amazon deals with mistakes

During her first six months at Amazon, Beryl Tomay made a code change that crashed Amazon’s order-confirmation page for over an hour.

Later, a database change she made blocked users from signing into their Kindle, prompting an email from Jeff Bezos.

If you’re wondering whether she got fired.

She didn’t. She got a bad review.

Where's Tomay today?

She's still at Amazon and doing (very) well. As Vice President, Tomay is now responsible for ensuring your deliveries arrive at your doorstep on time.

The Wall Street Journal highlighted her leadership achievements, and this line caught my eye: “Positive lessons could be gained even in mistakes” Tomay said.

She now openly shares her mistakes by speaking at company events and writing about them, hoping her missteps can benefit others.

Leaders like Beryl Tomay don’t enjoy making mistakes, but when they make them, they make sure to turn them into learning opportunities. They don't waste a crisis!

Btw Tomay isn't alone. Let me introduce you to Sara Blakley.

Sara Blakley became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire in 2012.

Her claim to fame?

She founded Spanx when she was 27. Blakley is a seasoned executive who understands the power of turning mistakes into opportunities.

At Spanx, Blakley runs “Oops meetings” where employees stand up and openly admit how they messed up so everyone can learn and get better.

Blakley says, “If you can create a culture where your employees are not terrified to fail or make a mistake, then they’re going to be highly productive and more innovative”.

Elite leaders like Tomay, and Blakley aren’t the only ones who can discuss mistakes openly. You can start this process too!

After big deliverables (Quarterly business reviews, feature releases, big pitches, etc) get your team together and try one of these two debrief formats.

Not a fan of stop, start, continue? Try this:

Remember, the goal of the debrief isn’t to blame or shame. It’s to create a safe environment where learning is prioritized, mistakes are shared freely and everyone takes accountability for their actions.

In my work coaching senior leaders, one quality shows up constantly. Each of them is relentlessly curious to get better. They're not afraid to say, "I messed up!" What they're afraid of is not getting better. They've mastered turning mistakes into learning opportunities. You can, too.

Keep leading.

Ali