How to Screw Up Successfully

To move forward you have to take a few risks. With risk by its very nature, will come the occassional failure. But I would still want to try and move forward then to sit still and just get engulfed by my competition. So how do you fail successfully? Here are some thoughts that I have had, feel free to add yours in the comments section.

F = Feedback. You need to get feedback from the team on YOUR performance. Was there anything that you could have done differently? Also give individual feedback to the team.

A = Allow failure. This does not mean that you are accepting medicority, it means that you recognise that sometimes things happen that you don't expect. People need to be inspired to try but not fear repercussions.

I = Identify development gaps from the failure and address them. Also identify the strengths that you have now found and celebrate them.

L= Learnings. Always learn why it went wrong, what went wrong and how you learn for the future.

W= When you communicate remember YOU take responsibility, don't apportion blame. When praising say it is down to the team, when failing you take the responsibility. Your team will respect that more than ever. Also celebrate the fact that you had the guts to try....

E= Explore the next ideas...don't be afraid to take on the next risk. Learn Action, Review, Action, Learn, Action....

L = Let your peers learn from your experiences...don't be scared to share.

L = Look for the positives in all failures. There will be some and you shouldn't lose sight of them.