I remembered Star Wars: A New Hope when the Death Star was completed. I would say that Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's biggest mistake was to think that the Death Star alone would make sure that the empire would be in check. Palpatine was a little bit more smart to make sure that Tarkin kept an eye on Vader and vice versa considering that either one of them might use the weapon against him.
The problem with destroying Alderaan is plan and simple: it's an overkill. It's like trying to blow up an entire forest to kill one's hunt instead of finding a logical way to kill one's prey. It could have been enough to execute Princess Leia Organa as an example for her betrayal of the Imperial Senate. But no, Grand Moff Tarkin got too confident and decided to blow off Alderaan anyway.
Not only is the destruction of the whole planet an overkill but it's also destroying a source of income for the empire. Would the empire just simply chose to execute figures in Alderaan who had rebellion and reward Alderaanians who sided with the empire then maybe the rebellion outbreak would have not happened. Instead, the destruction of Alderaan did little or nothing to stop the ongoing rebellion. The whole planet was regarded as a martyr and led others to join the rebellion instead.
What Palpatine could have done was to actually dismiss Tarkin immediately instead of covering up the act. Would have he fired Tarkin or even have him executed then maybe the Rebellion would have not been so bad. Palpatine's decision to use patronage politics in all his decisions soon caused the two decades long empire to finally crumble.
One would also think, and rightly so, that such a decision on a massive scale with real long term consequences would be left to the emperor himself and not just to the Grand Moff.
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