Failure is an Option

In our culture of winning at any expense, it may be difficult to grasp that failure is an option. Don’t believe me? Look at the recent Olympics. Athletes doping to get an advantage in many instances stole the integrity of the games. Then did you listen to the reasoning and rationale used to justify using any substance? Accountability and personal responsibility was at an all-time low.

What about in your organization or unit? Is failure an option?

As Americans, we have a very strong entrepreneurial culture, and capitalism has a strong drive built into its foundation. In many instances, we do not tolerate failure of any magnitude. Swift action follows, blame continues, and soon you find leaders afraid to make any innovative or entrepreneurial decisions for fear of job loss, downgrading of reputation, or the stigma of a failure.

Have you ever seen anyone celebrated for failure? I can say I don’t think there is a Hallmark card for that celebration, but there should be! Why?

Without failing, there is no progress. Without progress there is no action. Without action there is death.

Pretty bold statements I realize for some, especially those who vehemently disagree that failure is never an option.

The same could be said about success. Without success, there is no progress. Without progress there is no action. Without action there is death. And it is true. So how can two options provide the same outcome, but one is despised?

You could say it depends on the culture of your organization.

We are not going to delve into culture in this blog. We are going to spur you to think through your personal bias, your perception or repulsion of failure, or your intolerance for failure. And are any of these behaviors holding you back.

In my years as a leader, I have worked hard to help my organizations to move the mission forward, to achieve success and to avoid failure. I have been fairly successful, but not in all. Amazing how our annual appraisals don’t mention the failures we produced throughout the year. Last I checked I don’t know any organizations or professional groups who honor failure.

As leaders, we are responsible for managing many times day to day operations. Additionally, you need the strategic lens to plan and look at how you want your organization to be engaged with future operations. Lastly you face challenges daily which need attention. Some of the solutions are simple and are quickly identified, others leave multiple courses of action for you to assign and make happen. It is at this point the failure fear takes over.

In every decision made without high confidence of success, leaders face the uncertainty of their decision. If the decision turns out not to solve the problem, the concern and sometimes justified concern is they leaders above them will react unfavorably Likewise, having several of those decision go against you and now you have the beginning of what many fear as a reputation for not getting the job done.

If you have made it to a position of leadership, then you already have abilities to which someone decided were needed for your organization. Every leader comes with certain personality traits, life experiences, and training which make them pragmatic and a good fit for a job. It is at this point where you have some resources available to you that you can make informed decisions. You need to trust yourself to make decisions and to go with the decision. A paralyzing leadership trait is to just freeze, or to fall victim to the “analysis paralysis” attitude of needing more info to make any decision. Don’t forget you are there to make decisions, so make them. Truly, the only bad decision is no decision.

Although not always the case, you should have a network of friends and mentors. Using them as a sounding board allows you to bounce your ideas off of them to see if you have any glaring errors in your critical thinking. The feedback, challenges, and discussions with other leaders provide you a lifetime of learning from other’s experiences. Don’t discredit a leader from another industry either. There is much which can be shared between disciplines and other non-healthcare professionals. This is the soft power of networking which challenges those leaders who feel they have all the answers or they can “do it on their own.” This behavior or not reaching out infects new and experienced leaders alike.

Realistically, not all good ideas have been thought of yet. What are you thinking that could work for you to make a new and innovative solution for your current problem? Too many times we fall victim to the negative self-talk which says “I really don’t have much to offer” or my coworker is so much smarter than me and “if they can’t figure it out, why do I think I can?” This type of behavior sabotages you from the beginning. Stand up, credit yourself with the experience and leadership you have grown in, and think about a solution no one has done before. Many times great ideas come from small thoughts someone had the courage to say. If you don’t take some scheduled quiet time to just “think”, start now. It is a valuable tool for you to start now.

Finally, fail! Go ahead, celebrate it. The next time you fail at something, you will naturally critically review why. Do that, honestly critique what happened and look at where the logic and reasoning occurred, where in the process of determining the course of action was not thoroughly examined and caused the failure. Then learn not to do that again. You should have failures. John Maxwell has said in many of his books that if you are not failing, you are not trying. Celebrate the fact you actually did something, then make corrections and go again.

So to review, you change your behavior on how you perceive failure in leadership:

1. Trust in yourself, you are a leader
2. Phone a friend/mentor and talk through your thoughts
3. Think outside the box for innovative ideas
4. Celebrate your successes AND failures. If nothing else, your enemies will wonder why you are celebrating. Dance, dance, dance…

Leading with you.

Dean

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