Reset button

This morning I was checking my sprinklers when my phone fell out of my pocket and into a puddle. I picked it up and shook it, and I could tell there was enough water in there that my day had just changed. I thought, “Can I have a do-over?”

Have you ever wished you could go back in time – to that moment before the mistake? Technology has taught us that this is possible. Often a system restore or reboot fixes everything, right?

Unfortunately, in life there is no reset button. Once a company makes a mistake, there is no going back – things have changed. The degree of change depends on the degree of the error. For example:

1. In 2008, United Airlines mishandled and broke Dave Carroll’s guitar, which cost about $3,500. After 9 months of fruitless negotiations, Carroll wrote a song about the experience with UA that went viral and cost UA a 10% drop in stock price and a loss of $180 million in 4 weeks.
2. Originally, the candy that was supposed to be featured in the movie ET was M&Ms. But Mars, Inc. refused the offer, so they went to Hershey instead with a request to use Reese’s Pieces. The result: 65% increase in sales for Hershey.
3. In 2001, a Tokyo-based stock trader accidentally sold 610,000 shares at 6 yen when he was supposed to sell 6 shares for 610,000 yen. It cost his company $100 million.

We have all witnessed companies make many mistakes over the years, varying in degrees of severity. Some of these brands have been hurt significantly. Some have managed to gain consumer confidence, in spite of the error.

Mistakes will happen. The way you respond after a mistake is what matters. There’s no reset button, but you can actually come out better on the other side.

See these muses on responding after a mistake or during a crisis:

Biggest mistake – video
Upholding brand promises: Leadership in times of mistakes
Can you keep your promises?
Jobs & Bezos: Successful failures
The brilliance of making mistakes