Dealing With the Tough Stuff

7 Managing your mistakes

We have talked about some of the tough stuff that happens in values-driven businesses: trends that turn against us, problem customers, the loss of employees, and a lack of cash, to name a few. But sometimes we just plain screw up or base our decisions on poor judgment. Especially frustrating are the times that we are convinced we are doing the right thing for all the right, socially responsible reasons and we still mess up.

In this chapter, Lisa describes getting a wake-up call when two of her employees got into a fistfight. Margot tells us two stories: one about the early days, when she printed too many catalogs, and a second one about an employee issue that ended in a lawsuit. Gary writes about a manufacturing mess-up, ...