What We Can Learn from our Regrets (With Video)

Organizations that provide psychological safety will reduce boldness regrets and get greater capacity out of their team.

I caught up with Dan Pink, author of The Power of Regret just after his fantastic keynote at the HR SHRM Virginia Conference in this special episode of Asking for a Friend. 

In his research collecting 20,000 regrets from people all over the world, Dan found trends of four types of regret. I asked him about one so related to our Courageous Cultures research—the regret of boldness.

The regret of boldness is evident in people who say things like,

“If only I’d taken the chance.”
“I wish I had started a company.”
“If only I’d spoken up.”

These regrets aren’t just the responsibility of the individual. Organizations that provide psychological safety help empower their people to not experience such regrets.

How can you do that? In everyday leadership operations. For example,

If someone disagrees with you, thank them for disagreeing. If they make a mistake that’s not colossal, celebrate it for the sake of learning.

You won’t regret it.

Some of the Best Quotes from Dan Pink’s The Power of Regret

“Regret makes us human, regret makes us better.”

“By making us feel worse today, regret makes us better tomorrow.”

“Understanding its effects hones our decisions, boosts are performance, and bestows a deeper sense of meaning.”

“The lesson of closed doors is to do better next time. The lesson of open doors is to do better now.”

“We regret foregone opportunities more than unfulfilled obligations.”

More Interesting Quotes from Other Voices on Regret

“If only. Those must be the saddest two words in the world.” – Mercedes Lackey

“Spend time with those you love. One of these days you will say either, I wish I had, or I’m glad I did” – Zig Ziglar

“Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes too high to dwell on what might have been.”  – Hilary Clinton

“I would rather regret the things I have done than the things I have not.” – Lucille Ball

Your turn.

What regrets do you have? What can you do about it now? Are you leading people who may have regrets? How can you help?