Failure = Opportunity

I am working with a group of supervisors on building a culture of accountability. In a previous article, I outlined these key elements:

  1) Make sure you understand the desired results

2) Document your expectations and “the why” behind the tasks

3) Communicate your expectations and desired results

4) Ask for employee input and gain alignment on the path forward

5) Measure and communicate progress, provide feedback

6) Be accountable to your employees

7) Learn together from failures

8) Celebrate success

We got stuck on number 7. A lot of folks do, so here are some insights.

It’s almost impossible to find a story of success without some missteps leading to failure. The key is learning from them and not making the same mistake twice.

Did you know it took Thomas Edison 1,000 attempts to invent the light bulb? Did you also know Henry Ford went bankrupt before starting the Ford Motor Company?

As a leader, it is essential to help your team learn from mistakes and celebrate your learnings. If you react negatively your team may stop trying to improve processes and ultimately, they may shut down out of fear and monotony. Who would want to be accountable for anything in such an environment?

Create a Plan-Do-Check-Adjust team mindset. Plan out your attempt, execute, evaluate your results, and make any needed adjustments. Create a culture that focuses on “what happened,” not “who did it” when things go wrong.

Here are some more tips for learning together from failure:

• Be humble. When things are going well be humble because if you experience a failure this will lessen your fall from grace.

• Find silver linings. What good can come out of this failure?

• Embrace change.

• Adopt a growth mindset. See failure as an opportunity for growth rather than a sign of weakness.

• Share your failures so that others can learn.

Implementing this strategy in the workplace creates not only a culture of accountability but also psychological safety where folks feel interpersonally safe to be themselves, try new things, make mistakes, and ultimately show up as their best self.