Listening to a podcast about Miles Davis, there was a story by Herbie Hancock, where he said, “in the middle of Miles solo I played the wrong chord. A chord that just sounded completely wrong and Miles paused for a second and then he played some notes that made my chord right, which astounded me. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard.”
Miles was known for his creativity and turning mistakes into masterpieces – think – Kind of Blue (1959), which has been regarded as his greatest work, and cited as the greatest jazz album of all time.
Reading Herbie’s quote impacted me powerfully as I thought about the times I have been intolerant of mistakes and how much better things would be if I worked through the mistake or supported the person who made the mistake. I’m sure there’d be a different result.
How different do you think things could you be if when a mistake is made, you changed your perception, corrected it and moved on thereby opening up the possibility of creating something better?
I think we would judge less, have more consideration and compassion, sometimes it not easy to do.
In the current circumstances, as we approach a very different Christmas in 2020, maybe changing how we look at mistakes is needed now more than ever.
Whichever way you are planning on spending your Christmas and New Year, I hope that you can make the best of it and I wish you a safe and healthy entry into 2021.
