While it is acceptable to make mistakes, it is unacceptable to make the same mistake twice.

A successful businessman was once asked for the reasons behind his success. “Good decisions,” he replied quickly. “And what was your secret to making good decisions?” asked the interviewer. The businessman thought about it briefly and then replied, “Experience.” The interviewer asked him to be more specific. “What kind of experience?”

“Experience from making bad decisions,” came the response.

The point is not to make bad decisions intentionally, but rather to learn from them. Bad decisions build an invaluable experience base that helps improve future decisions. Of course, good decisions also build an experience base, but we tend to learn more from our bad decisions, probably because they inflict costs – often very expensive and painful costs. But we can recoup these costs in the future by learning how to make better decisions.

After more than 30 years of business experience, I have a personal philosophy that, while it is acceptable to make mistakes, it is unacceptable to make the same mistake twice. Making the same mistake twice indicates a failure to apply your past experiences to your present decision-making. It’s paying twice for the same bad decision.

All too often, when people make bad decisions, they get angry or depressed instead of constructively channeling their energy into learning from the experience. When you make a bad decision, ask yourself not just what you did wrong, but how you will make a similar decision differently in the future.

• Did you have the necessary information to make the decision before you made it?