Already a member?
Welcome to Brazen Careerist!
Emily Ma is using Brazen Careerist to share ideas. Join now to become a member and start networking with Emily Ma and other professionals just like you. Learn more.
Brazen careerist
Where ambitious young professionals connect and grow
Email
Print
No I am not talking about that word, it's FAILURE that I am focusing on today. Failure is the best teaching tool and might even motivate you.
My biggest learning opportunities came after failing at a task or project. One of my biggest failures happened right in the middle of a terrific run of success in late 2006 when my HR team was doing cutting edge (and award winning) work on aligning our business strategy and HR strategy. We pushed the envelope so far, we pushed it over the cliff. Our desire to do succession mgmt. and high potential work was the right idea, but at the wrong time. I failed miserably.
How can this happen? Why did I fail? I'm an overachiever and It was a great program. Well for starters we didn't read the readiness of the senior management team embracing the concept. We had so much change going on that we thought we could toss it in the salad and no one would notice. Mistake one, don't underestimate your mgmt team's capacity to see things. Mistake two, no buy in. It was our agenda, but clearly not there's. Third mistake, lack of prioritizing what needed to get done in what sequence. So three years later we are on our 4th iteration of High Potentials and second iteration of Succession planning. The time is right and we finally have some traction. In the end I realized it's not about what I need, or my team needs. It's about what the company needs. In this example it was not so much a bad idea, however bad timing, lack of buy in, and underestimating our colleagues.
I fail frequently in business, no one notices most of the time. When they do notice, I am usually pretty good at explaining why and more importantly moving forward. I either fix it, delete it, or apologize for it. Sometimes I try again. In this example several times.
Failure is important, we should not be afraid of it. When we embrace it we become stronger. Our cultural focuses to much on succeeding...Not that it's a bad thing. You just need a good balance.
It's not such much about failing, it really what you do afterwards that matters. Do you FAIL?
For more timely, relevant, and engaging articles,
subscribe to Brazen Careerist.
- Why You Might Be Better Off Without a Job After College
- Continuing Education: Extending Learning Beyond Your Campus Years
- How To Find a Writing Partner Who Can Help You Achieve Your Goals and Make More Money
- A New Kind of Business Mover and Shaker
- The Anti-Stalker’s Guide for Converting Online Contact into Real World Collaboration
Comments
06.08.09
I think most people and most bosses are afraid of failure. I think your an exception to the rule. i agree with the learning aspect.
06.08.09
With the name Dwight, everyone thinks I'm the Shroute charachter from the TV show the office. I know about Failure (thanks for the name mom).
Seriously, failure is a great tool to learn, I concur!
My boss puts me in position to fail occassionally too. Not sure if it's on purpose, but he doesn't make a big deal when it happens...yet...
06.08.09
Good article. As they say- Nothing ventured nothing gained. Risk takers always fail and are not afraid to do so. You can't learn and you can't expand your comfort circle without failing first.
06.08.09
Christine: your right most people are afraid, we need to get bosses to see the light and importance of risk and failure.
Dwight: your the man!
Mark; Comfort circle...failure knows no "comfort circle".
06.08.09
@Mark - Sounds like you have a good leader at the helm that understands what a great learning process failing can be (and one you understand full well also.)
If I may, Valeria Maltoni of Conversation Agent has a great piece on 25 Ways to Fail and Come Out on Top that would be a great extension to your post.
Thanks for sharing Mark!
06.08.09
Ryan,My boss is great (and he's the CEO). Maybe its this kind of stuff that keeps our employees and exec's here to receive 25 yr service awards, it's not the money...I will check out Valeria's piece. Thanks!
M
06.08.09
You're right, failure can often teach us so much more than constant success. I view failure as part of a cycle. Sometimes the outcome of the cycle is success, other times failure. Because its the product of a cylce, I never view it as personal and nobody should for that matter. I wrote a recent blog post about it if interested.
06.08.09
Travis, read your blog...great points.
Here's a different perspective - My daughters soccer coach tells the girls: give a 100% of what you have to give, even if its only 80% of what your oppositions capability. Sometimes effort beats out talent, especially when others don't give there best effort. Sometimes you lose, but if you give it your all you can find some things to be proud of and build on.
In regards to cycle of success your right too. Look at Thomas Edison, how many failures did he have before breakthru technology?
thx for your comments!!!
M
06.09.09
Afraid to fail = afraid to grow
06.09.09
Wheezer, lots of stunted growth in companies today!
06.09.09
@Mark - I agree that you should always give it 100%. This is hard to make habit though. :)
Got Something To Say?
Got Something To Say?
Not a Member? Brazen Careerist is a career management tool for next-generation professionals. Set up a free account today to comment on this post and start sharing your ideas. Learn more.
Login to view your networks!
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
