101: Failure's lessons
As Thomas Edison reportedly said: “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
Putting a business failure in perspective can be difficult. Perhaps a new software system didn't turn out to be as beneficial as you had hoped. Or a hot new hire fizzled. Or a new product idea crashed and burned. There's value in all of these experiences. Here are three ways to put failure in perspective:
Use failure as a guide. “Early failures are important because they generate systemic learning about where opportunities are (and are not) and how to address them,” Daniel Isenberg writes at Harvard Business Review, “… they quickly free up people, capital, and ideas for more-promising projects.” Failure is testing the waters. Failure early in the process acts like a chimney draft, he says, sucking in new entrants and ideas, while the old exit.
Use failure for growth. Without it, would you be as able to enjoy success? How would you learn how to struggle along, become resourceful and find strength as you go if everything were to come easily? “If an individual doesn't initially thrive,” writes Leigh Gossel at InsideBusiness360.com, “they might be inclined to have more perseverance and be more determined.”
Do a project or decision premortem. This advice, from Harvard Business Review, suggests not analyzing what went wrong after it occurs, but before. The article suggests gathering your executive team to help brainstorm problems before they occur. “Explain that (hypothetically) the project has 'failed' and ask them to write down all the reasons why,” the article advises. “Then alter your original plan based on what you learn.” This move also helps team members track potential problems quicker along the way.
Image credit: FreeDigitalImages.net.
Read more
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments