In Project-Based Work is Failure and Option?

 

I don't think anyone would deny that Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players of all time.  However, did you know that he missed something like 9000 shots, lost almost 300 games, and took the game-winning shot 26 times—and missed?

I occasionally receive a newsletter from OpenView Venture Partners, which included an interesting post this morning by Scott Maxwell, You Need to Fail More!.  He suggests that our culture is "...stuck with the notion that we must plan and then act and, if there is a failure, then it was either a failure in planning or execution."

I believe it is a mistake to look at problem solving this way.  So does Maxwell who argues, "Most situations and all new situations are unpredictable, so the best approach is to get a quick implementation, identify the issues and opportunities, and then iterate again.  Follow this iterative approach a few times and you will eventually find almost all the issues and be able to perform at the best level possible."

He suggests that most people would call this "failing multiple times," but he considers it success.  So do I.  Creative problem solving is rarely successful right out of the gate.  Michael Jordan is a great example of someone we universally accept as incredibly successful on the court—but even Michael wasn't 100% successful 100% of the time.

Maxwell points us to this short Michael Jordan commercial for Nike to make his point.  It's only about 30 seconds long, but worth watching.  For most of us project-based work includes, among other things, the occasional failure.  Regardless of your work management methodology or the project management tools you use, the difference between success and failure is our ability to learn from our mistakes and improve.

What do you do to ensure that mistakes become learning opportunities?