How to Make Errors Self-Correcting

Wouldn’t it be great if the errors and mistakes we make in our businesses would just self-correct? Actually, there are some events that happen in businesses and other areas of life that are so monumental or costly, that they teach us—often too late—not to make certain mistakes again.

That seems to be the case when learning to use firearms—even experts who teach gun handling and safety say that self-correcting errors often happen to them.

Recently, I, my wife and son attended a two-day course on how to improve our knowledge of the use and care of handguns. Our trainer—who also trains police and even SWAT teams in our area—is really knowledgeable about weapons of all types, and was very thorough in training us.

“If you follow my instructions and learn the step-by-step process I will demonstrate,” he said, “you won’t get hurt. And by the end of the course, you will be amazed at your proficiency in handling and firing a high-powered handgun.”

He was right about that, at least in the case of my wife, Susan! By the time the course was completed, she was firing a 9-mm, semi-automatic pistol with both her right and left hands—and with surprising accuracy. She had also learned to clear a jammed gun and change out her magazines in a matter of seconds. I KNEW I liked this girl!

In my case, however, I had to experience one of those “self-correcting errors” our trainer described, as did others in the class. Our trainer demonstrated how to hold the gun correctly, but I kept going back to the way I had taught myself years ago. I wasn’t really trying to be Rambo—just one of those “old dogs, new tricks” moments, I suspect.

So, as I fired more than a hundred rounds, one of the fingers on my left hand took a beating whenever the slide on the gun recoiled. It finally dawned on me that, if I didn’t follow the step-by-step process the trainer had shown me, I was going to have a really bruised finger. I finally moved my finger to the correct position, and the rest of the day went smoothly.