Learning From Success

One of my favourite lines when I’m lecturing is to announce “nobody learns anything useful from their mistakes” then leave it hanging! In fact, I’m told a discussion on this among tutors is still raging two weeks after the last time I dropped this bombshell!

After a few minutes, you can hear the wheels turning and the blood pressure rising as individuals grapple with the implications of the statement and question their years of thinking that all learning in the work environment comes from a root cause analysis of poor performance.

So what do I mean?

The statement is deliberately provocative and is an attempt to give individuals the opportunity to look at performance from a different perspective. When things go well, there is tremendous learning available to organisations. A systematic examination of good performance looking at root cause will elicit useful information on the conditions that need to be in place to repeat the performance; coupled with positive reinforcement. real leaps in sustainable good performance are possible.

When things go wrong, two things need to happen. Firstly, ensure that the same approach is not tried again. That is don’t fail and then try to do the same thing again (often with more effort) in the hope that something different will happen. This will quickly lead to a worsening of performance. Anyone who has played golf, had a bad round and then spent hours at the driving range without seeking coaching to understand what has gone wrong will understand what I mean.

Secondly, the team need to generate alternative courses of action and, after risk assessment, try them. If it works then a post-job review, for example, will concrete the successful path to ‘normal business’. If it doesn’t work then alternatives need to be pursued.

Convinced? People seldom are the first time around, but I haven’t lost an argument about it yet!