By Ted Keilar
When it comes to failure in a team environment, nothing is more challenging to a leader than dealing with fault. If failure is not attributed to specific individuals, a leader is likely to believe there will be no accountability and, therefore, no improvement in performance. However, if someone is blamed, morale may deteriorate leading to further decline in accountability and, again, no improvement in performance.
Knowing the real relationship between failure and fault is critical to the success of any team. In her book, Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy, Amy C. Edmonson points out that not all failures are “blameworthy” and some are even “praiseworthy.” Misdiagnosis of failures logically results in misdirection of blame and penalties which, in turn, can cause future failures to go unreported or undiagnosed. Unresolved, this misdiagnosis can cause an otherwise healthy team culture to be ravaged in short order.
Assess a failure’s root cause. Consistently employ a rigorous and reliable failure analysis process to accurately assess the root cause of the failure, and then determine whether blame or praise is required. Edmondson identifies 9 basic reasons for failures that fall into 3 types (see Reasons for Failure chart). Clearly, Preventable Failures are usually blameworthy, although the cause is not always obvious. Complex Failures are typically the result of faulty processes or system breakdowns which can be traced back to the process developer(s), but due to complexity and unforeseeable applications, blame may not be warranted. Finally, Intelligent Failures are not only accepted but may be recognized as praiseworthy acts that generate valuable information.
Avoid assigning automatic blame to an individual until your assessment is complete. When Edmonson asked executives “to consider this kind of causal spectrum and then estimate what percentage of the failures in their organizations are caused by blameworthy events, the answers usually come back between 2 and 5 percent.” But, when she asked “what percentage of failures are treated as if caused by blameworthy events, after a pause or laugh, their responses often yield a much higher number in the 70–90 percent range.”
When learning from failure, don’t just think better—think different. So, you have identified a failure in a process at your organization. As a team, you have also determined the root cause, fixed the problem, and improved your process. Are you satisfied? You shouldn’t be. While you solved the “problem,” you may have missed an opportunity. The most enduring and successful companies are not those who did what others did but those who did it a little better. They are the companies that decided to do things in a radically different way (think FedEx, Amazon, Google and Citicorp). While incremental improvements alone may work fine for your organization, clients, and bottom line for a time, at some point a competitor will come along that does business completely differently. It is then that you will fully realize the opportunity you missed in every meeting in which you discussed failure.
Overtly encourage innovation as a response to failure. Instead of just asking, “How can we do this better?”, you should also ask, “How can we do this in a whole new way to achieve significantly better results?” To encourage innovation and learning from failure, Amy C. Edmondson suggests leaders should allocate time and resources for their teams to conduct experiments, simulations, and pilot programs. In addition to the inherent potential outcomes of these methods, such projects can counteract the deeply embedded psychological barriers to learning from failure.
Focus on business value as you innovate. When you embrace both improvement and innovation methods, you increase your business value. You also increase the value of your employees’ work and provide a better and more supportive business culture in which your employees can flourish. In this way, your business will not only sustain its current level of success, but it will thrive beyond that level.
Work with joy. Working with joy is not easy if you’ve missed a critical deadline, were forced to lay off an employee, or had an entire product line fail. But, when we maintain our joy and do all things for God’s glory, our team members and the people we serve will notice. We may then have an opportunity to explain the source of our joy and be the light God meant us to be.
Face even the prospect of failure with joy. As Romans 5:3-5 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Know that in spite of obstacles, your success is assured. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). We are far more capable than we can imagine, as long as we continue to strengthen our relationship with God. Our ability to discern the right path is always enhanced through prayer.
Put God first. All else follows. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). In the final analysis, we need to be smart about how we handle challenges that are moving us in the wrong direction while always looking to God to point us in the right direction.