5 Ways to Fail Forward
August 6, 2007 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
One of the best ways I’ve found to pick up the slack as a manager is to realize that failing forward is my best option for future success. Taking a few minutes to learn a lesson from the times that didn’t go so well have been what taught me the most in my time as manager.
5 Ways to Fail Forward
- Ask questions of all interested parties – Sometimes we don’t know why something didn’t work. Asking the right questions are a key way to failing forward. Taking the collective wisdom of others and even asking “What question could I have asked that would have prevented this failure” is a great way to fail forward.
- Write everything down – After you realize you failed, write down what happened. Write down what happened that went well, what happened that didn’t go well, and what you’d change next time. Keep this handy for the next time you’re faced with a similar situation, and you’ll have the roadmap to success you need to be a better manager.
- Look for clues you might have missed – Put on your detective hat and think, “What did I miss? What did I not understand?” There’s probably a clue or three out there that you missed, so look around and find the missing pieces. Then look in those places next time.
- A week later, ask yourself “What did I learn from this failure? Am I sure it won’t happen again? If I’m not sure, how can I be sure the outcome is different next time?” – Often you can find a lot of great insights by asking yourself the tough questions.
- Ask your team what they learned from the situation – The last, but most important, point of view, comes from your team. If you failed at something, they were impacted, so ask them how they were impacted, and what they learned for the next opportunity. They are able to look at the situation from their point of view, a non-management point of view, and it can help ensure your failure is a positive one.
Take time today to learn from your failures, and fail forward. Failure happens, and learning from our failure is the best teacher we can ever have.
