Characteristic #25: Learning from Failure

By | October 22, 2013

Failure[October 22, 2013]  It is said that learning from your mistakes is the best teacher.  I think the jury is still out on that judgment but failure certainly provides the most unforgettable opportunity to learn.

Senior executive leaders will learn lessons from those failures just like any leader.  However, the lessons that senior leaders take away are more varied and complex.

“Success is a lousy teacher.  It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”  – Bill Gates

Most leaders understand logically that it is important to learn from failures.  At the same time, they are naturally concerned that if they are open and accepting of failure (risk taking), they will be creating an environment of “anything goes” and where workplace standards are inconsequential.

Here are some lessons that all employees and leaders need to consider about failure.  Note that senior leaders learn something a bit different.  Their focus is at the mission or strategic level; and how failure affects employees.

All Employees   and Leaders

Senior   Executive Leaders

1.      Accept the criticism 1.      Accept the responsibility
2.      Admit mistakes   were made 2.      Admit that   calculated risks were taken
3.      Determine what   when wrong 3.      Determine why   it went wrong
4.      Determine   the immediate consequences 4.      Determine   the long-range consequences
5.      Determine   what tasks failed 5.      Determine   what mission failed
6.      Figure out who   was responsible 6.      Figure out   what the system issues were
7.      Learn from tactical   failures 7.      Learn from strategic   failures
8.      Improve team   collaboration skills 8.      Improve organizational   skills
9.      Build more   integrated teams 9.      Build an   organizational team of teams

The biggest mistake that senior leaders make is that they believe they should take control and employees will just tag along.  That by having employees identify those things that caused failure and then repairing them, success will follow.  This is certainly necessary and helpful, but it will not take your organization from good to great.

What senior leaders should be doing is giving control and creating leaders – building a team of teams.  Those leaders can then understand the vision and intent of the senior leader and help take the organization where just the senior leader cannot.

 

 

Author: Douglas R. Satterfield

Hello. I provide one article every day. My writings are influenced by great thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Jung, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Jean Piaget, Erich Neumann, and Jordan Peterson, whose insight and brilliance have gotten millions worldwide to think about improving ourselves. Thank you for reading my blog.

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