Mistakes, miscalculations, missteps…each is a learning opportunity.

The past is just training. Failure just informs your future” (Haden, 2020)

In a recent article on Inc.com by Jeff Haden details a study which illustrates how valuable learning from mistakes or failure is a catalyst for success to those with whom you share your story. Odd as it may seem, people tend to perk up and pay attention when they hear about struggles or failures that you have overcome. More readily than if you expound on your successes.

“Even though science proves the value of sharing failures so others can learn. Negative information commands more attention than positive information. It is processed more deeply. Negativty is remembered longer” (Haden, 2020)

While there are instances where a leader needs to find out the root cause of a break down. Who is directly responsible for a failure to discover what processes broke down, not every mistake or failure requires intensive dissection. In Professor Edmondson’s HBS articles she outlines the spectrum of failures;

Blameworthy:
  • Deviance
  • Inattention
  • Lack of Ability
Neutral:
  • Process Inadequacy
  • Task Challenge
  • Process Complexity
Praiseworthy:
  • Uncertainty
  • Hypothesis Testing
  • Exploratory Testing

The need to find, blame and identify who is responsible for any mistake or failure in any business drains a company and its leader of their power.

The Point of Power

ActionCOACH identifies the ‘Point of Power’ as a pivotal place where leaders can choose to take control and be powerful models of behaviour or choose a powerless path. Those leaders who choose to operate above the ‘Point of Power’ demonstrate three characteristics. Accountability, Ownership and Responsibility. Those who choose Blame, Excuses and Denial remain languishing below the ‘Point of Power’.

Demonstrating a willingness to acknowledge and accepting responsibility for mistakes is a powerful tool. Sharing the learning of any misstep or failure not only shows a leader’s humanity. It allows others to learn. It reinforces wanted behaviour and diminishes the stigma of making mistakes.

Create an Environment

Creating an environment where mistakes (within the praiseworthy zone) are seen as a positive is difficult. Supporting a company culture of learning however, can be transformational for any company. Instead of focusing on who did what, focusing on what lead to the outcome and how to improve processes and systems to avoid the same error in the future, can energize and strengthen your business.

“Only leaders can create and reinforce a culture that counteracts the blame game and makes people feel both comfortable with and responsible for surfacing and learning from failures.” (Edmondson, 2011).

Test and Measure

Testing and measuring, trial and error allows an business to make meaningful and incremental change without demoralising the team. Edmondson explains further here how leaders can affect change,

“They should insist that their business develops a clear understanding of what happened—not of “who did it”—when things go wrong. This requires consistently reporting failures, small and large; systematically analysing them; and proactively searching for opportunities to experiment.”

Culture

Many businesses and leaders find it challenging to establish a culture where mistakes and failures don’t signal doom. Why you ask?

“Because examining our failures in depth is emotionally unpleasant and can chip away at our self-esteem. Left to our own devices, most of us will speed through or avoid failure analysis altogether. Another reason is that analysing business Failure For Success requires inquiry and openness, patience, and a tolerance for causal ambiguity. Yet managers typically admire and are rewarded for decisiveness, efficiency, and action—not thoughtful reflection. That is why the right culture is so important”(Edmondson, 2011).

You have to ask yourself as the leader of your business how willing you are to admit failure. What are your feelings  when you make a mistake? Do you apply the learning of a decision that doesn’t goes the way you expected? If you are consistent and transparent with your shortcomings and your mistakes, your team will begin to understand that an error doesn’t mean the end.

Consider some of the most advancement to humanity have come through arduous trial and error and experimentation. Putting a man on the moon; the electric light and flying all took methodical testing and measuring. Careful analysis of failures helped shape the next test, the next big step for human kind. It’s time to take failure off the shelf and dust it off in your company. What could you learn? How could you improve? By viewing Failure For Success with a more positive light, what can you then accomplish?

Success could be only one mistake away…

Find out more by getting in touch with me today. Book a 15 minute call here Message me at ianfinney@actioncoach.com or fill in the contact form by clicking here.