The word “failure” derives from the Latin for “to trip” or “to stumble” — a nice reminder that even when it feels like you’ve lost all your forward momentum, you can always reset and keep on walking.
Failure seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. The global pandemic is a no brainer along with supply chain challenges… along with expectations for performance higher than ever, setbacks for organizations looming large and let’s add mental health to the mix. Uncertainty and rapid change are extreme ingredients for failure. How do we define failure and the effect of it on our system and us? How do we recover from it and most importantly, what are the pearls of wisdom that we acquire when going through such experiences?
Success can welcome failure by hindering learning at both the individual and organization level. We’ve all heard that we can learn from failure, but surprisingly learning from success can present even greater challenges. Fundamental attribution errors may allow one to think that no more changes need to be made to adjust with the system and approach. Overconfidence bias results in too much self-assurance. Our blinders come on and the need to question system and procedures does not happen during such events. The failure to ask why syndrome should come into effect at this time. Not investigating the causes of good performance systemically does not allow teams to ask the tough questions that…
