Can keeping a “mistake diary” and sharing lessons learned with your staff prevent mishaps in the future?

That, and more, in today’s Lunchtime Links:

Live and learn: You’ve heard this phrase time and time again: “Learn from your mistakes.” It couldn’t ring more true. Odds are, you’re not the only one making mistakes. Elaine Wherry, cofounder of the chat site Meebo, recently gave a talk about keeping a “mistake diary.” She recorded in sketchbooks everything from time-management problems to hyper-perfectionism. “I wanted to be able to reflect on them later, so I wouldn’t beat myself up during the week,” she told the Wall Street Journal. “It was a way to get more sleep.”

Get real: Do you take on more tasks than you should? If you’re constantly feeling overwhelmed and strapped for time, it may be an issue of committing to too many responsibilities. “A manageable life is one leaving something in reserve. It isn’t going full speed all the time,” writes Jeffrey Cufaude on his Idea Architects blog. “It has capacity to expand, to shift gears when a particularly desirable moment (like a new baby) occurs or when a more challenging situation (like a loved one becoming ill) demands your involvement.” Learn how to delegate if possible or, when asked to take on a new task, just say you don’t have the bandwidth. After all, you can’t be in a thousand places at once.

Community insight: According to educational theorist Etienne Wenger, a community of practice, or COP, is a group of professionals who share and engage in their common interests and passions. Conferences are filled with COPs. In fact, they’re what make conferences such a great learning experience. Adrian Segar of Conferences That Work built a diagram pinpointing where COPs lie in the engagement spectrum. How do you interact with your community of practice?

What interesting reads have you found today? Let us know in the comments below.

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