Message Strategies: Analytical Reports [LO-6] Mistakes can be wonderful learning opportunities if we’re honest with ourselves and receptive to learning from the mistake.

Your task: Identify a mistake you’ve made—something significant enough to have cost you a lot of money, wasted a lot of time, harmed your health, damaged a relationship, created serious problems at work, prevented you from pursuing what could’ve been a rewarding opportunity, or otherwise had serious consequences. Now figure out why you made that mistake. Did you let emotions get in the way of clear thinking? Did you make a serious financial blunder because you didn’t take the time to understand the consequences of a decision? Were you too cautious? Not cautious enough? Perhaps several factors led to a poor decision.

Write a brief analytical report to your instructor that describes the situation and outlines your analysis of why the failure occurred and how you can avoid making a similar mistake in the future. If you can’t think of a significant mistake or failure that you’re comfortable sharing with your instructor, write about a mistake that a friend or family member made (without revealing the person’s identity or potentially embarrassing him or her).