It is my opinion that people do not want or choose to fail. There may be many reasons why something fails. It could be poor communication, oversight, ineffective management, inexperience, poor planning, unrealistic expectations, etc. This quote reminded me that lessons learned, though painful at times, can be highly profitable for everyone if they are used to benefit future decisions. “FEAR is the true enemy of dreams, for it prevents us from daring to try, while FAILURE merely teaches us to try again more wisely.” Knowledge and understanding gained from decisions made can be positive and negative. These should be shared so others can gain insight for future decisions. The goal is not to repeat mistakes and to create action plans to ensure this does not happen again. In this blog, I will focus on two of the positives. Lessons learned can
1. improve quality, and
2. facilitate collaboration.
If we are serious about delivering an excellent product to the end customer, most of us already have a quality plan. However, even the best plans can sometimes fail. The first place to start is determining where the plan broke down and what steps need to be added to ensure we learn and grow from this experience. Documenting the failure and the steps taken to fix the issue is essential. Additionally, training requirements may be identified to ensure future success.
Sharing lessons learned with the team can facilitate collaboration and knowledge transfer. Often, many ideas are shared during this type of open discussion, ideas that individuals may not have even considered. It also strengthens the bond of teams working together to come to a resolution. Most teams have a wide range of experience levels, and learning from everyone can be very eye-opening and informative.
Failure is not final unless you ignore it and do nothing to improve. We have opportunities to learn and grow every day. We need to be humble enough to admit failure and assume the responsibility to take corrective action to ensure success in the future.
