Handling mistakes in daily working life as an attribute of an inner-firm mistake culture and precondition for professional learning

Abstract

Modern enterprises follow philosophies which require employees to develop competencies and understand their enterprise as a learning organization in order to enhance the potential for appropriate reactions on market changes. Dealing with mistakes is a special source for learning in a scenario where flexible structures increase the probability of their occurrence. A positive way of dealing with mistakes should help to learn from them. However, just a commitment to a positive mistake culture (Fehlerkultur) does not guarantee learning from mistakes in daily working life. This contribution addresses the conditions of learning from mistakes and reports findings from empirical studies with employees.