Brainstorms

Get Your Staff Competing to be the Biggest Screw-Up

Reward confessions (and the lessons learned) with a stuffed toy.

Published

5 years ago

May 24, 2021

INSTORE Staff Instore June 2021 Issue

To make the most of your staff’s screw-ups, reward them — ideally with a goofy prize like a stuffed monkey, says Kim Scott, a former top Google executive, in her book Radical Candor: Be A Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity. Bring the monkey to an all-store meeting and tell the group that whoever confesses to the biggest screw-up in the previous month or week or whenever wins the prize. On top of a stuffed toy, “they get instant forgiveness and — this is most important — they get to teach everyone how not to screw up,” says Scott, adding that before long, you’ll have people competing to tell of their biggest mistakes. “It totally changes the tenor of the meeting — admitting failure becomes safe to do, and it is a surprisingly effective way to foster a cultivation of innovation,” she says.

After 35 Years in Kent, Bonaci Fine Jewelers Found the Right Partner to Close the Right Way

Bob Bonaci spent 35 years building a jewelry business and community presence in Kent, Washington. When he decided it was time to retire, he knew the process would take careful planning — and the right help. Fellow jewelers who’d been through it pointed him to Wilkerson. The results exceeded expectations. Wilkerson’s hands-off approach let Bonaci step back while the team handled every detail, meeting his personal and financial goals throughout. “It is phenomenal, the success that we’ve had.” Watch Bob share his retirement story.