A few years ago we were hired to deliver Mobile Elevated Work Platform training for a client. The request was clear: scissor lifts and boom lifts. Those are categorized as Type 3A and 3B machines. But when our instructor arrived on site, the crew rolled out a vertical mast lift, which is a Type 1A piece of equipment.
Different classification. Different training. The instructor told the client the truth: the training scheduled that day didn’t cover that machine. The client was understandably frustrated. And that was MY mistake. When I planned the job with the client, I didn’t dig deep enough to understand every piece of equipment they were using. So we owned it.
We told the client we’d come back and train them on the additional equipment at no charge. We ended up delivering another day or two of training to make it right. This reminded me of a lesson from a Journeyman carpenter I learned from during my apprenticeship. He told me something I’ve never forgotten:
“A good carpenter isn’t the one who avoids mistakes. It’s the one who knows how to deal with them.”
- We messed up.
- We owned it.
- We fixed it.
- We created systems to lower the chance of that happening again.