Give Your Team Permission to Fail

"Let's do something we have never done before." In many circumstances, this can sound like an exciting proposition. However, for people who are charged with the responsibility of contributing to a smooth-running dental practice, it can also sound scary. This is why you can often find yourself experiencing pushback when you try to implement new ideas.

In many ways, this pushback is perfectly understandable. After all, you measure the effectiveness of an employee in large part by how well they are able to work efficiently and minimize problems. That's how they look at it too—a good day for them is a day with no disturbances.

But of course real progress is all about disturbances. It's about shaking up the status quo and challenging yourself to venture out into areas that are beyond your current level of comfort. That is true for you as a clinician and it is true for every one of the members of your team. We all want to reach the next level but we need to keep in mind that the path to that higher level is seldom smooth. There are going to be bumps and stumbles along the way—in fact, the greater the leap in the progress, the more disturbances you can expect.

This is why whenever you introduce a bold new approach in the practice you have to make it clear to your team that you expect—and accept—disturbances. Anybody who has the courage to venture outside of their comfort zone has to be willing to make mistakes. And any leader who wants to surround him-or herself with a dynamic team has to invite disturbances.

In other words, you have to give your team room to find their way as you move toward new levels of excellence. You have to let them find out how to adapt what they already know, to what you know to be possible. You have to respect what they have to offer, while at the same time offering them a chance to envision something better. If you want the people around you to grow with you, invite them to take risks with you. Don't just reward efficiency; acknowledge people for being open to ideas and for trying to think and solve problems creatively, even if the results don't always work out. On the way to discovering true success, give your team permission to fail.