Bryan Powell | Executive Leadership and Team Coach with Executive Coaching Space.
Sounds funny, doesn’t it? Embracing a culture of failure intentionally? It goes against everything we are brought up to believe in, especially as leaders. Perhaps we feel the need to protect our team members from failure. Or it could be that we feel the need to mimic leaders we reported to in the past by using phrases such as “We have always done it that way” or “If I want to get it done right, I need to do it myself.”
What if I told you that there was another way to view failure? In fact, studies show that failure can actually create greatness! Florida State professor K. Anders Ericsson published findings back in the 1990s that being intentional about failure in order to learn from it can lead to accelerating learning. This is where the famous “10,000 hours to become an expert” idea comes from, although what is usually left out is the part where failure comes into play.
Creating an environment where team members have permission to accept the fact that not everything will go as planned can lead to accelerated growth and development. Behavior change takes time but can be sped up significantly by discussing where we missed the target and how to approach similar situations differently in the future.
Here are a few areas that can provide your team with a road map on how to create an environment that allows for greatness to be cultivated.
Set a tone on how failure will lead to growth.
Most of the leaders and teams I coach are familiar with the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. However, as I mentioned, what is left out of Ericsson’s research is the fact that it is not just about 10,000 hours, it is about learning from failure by reacting quickly, identifying the cause of the failure and course-correcting.
This is where we begin to form new habits that support our ability to execute the way we intend and the neural pathways to eventually make these skills second nature. Here are some questions to ask your team during your next meeting to begin the process of accepting failures together.
• What can we do as a team to discuss our failures in order to learn and grow from them?
• How can I lean on my team members when failures occur to gain their perspective?
• How will we discuss failures together without judgment so that team members feel they have permission to grow from them?
Normalize conversations focused on failure.
Usually, when I’m coaching a team, what I observe is that they are very good at doing although not great at being. They can complete tasks all day long like an assembly line, put out fires that pop up from time to time and manage issues with near-perfect precision. When I discuss the being part, I’m referring to spending time together to slow down and be intentional in building trust and rapport and even discuss what failures occurred this past month.
The Navy SEALs incorporate what they refer to as after-action reviews (AARs), as rarely does a mission go as planned. The SEAL teams need to adapt and learn from what happened so that they can build new habits for the future. This is where you can implement a similar framework after meetings, projects and client interactions, especially when failures occur. Here are the three questions from an AAR that you can incorporate with each other to build new habits as a team.
1. What went well during this instance?
2. What didn’t go well?
3. What can we do differently next time?
Cultivate a coaching process to learn from failure.
What if I told you that there is a way to give your team a 44% increase in productivity? Would you do it? There is a high probability that you would, and this is what research from the International Coaching Federation shows us, where conducting coaching sessions can boost the confidence, skills and productivity of your team members.
In his book The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle provides examples of how coaching can support creating additional myelin in your team member’s neurological network. Yep, I’ve geeked out—but you will need to read the book yourself to dive deeper. Here is a process that you can implement so that your team can consistently hold productive 30-minute coaching sessions:
• Have team members email their goals for the month, along with what they accomplished, what they didn’t accomplish, the obstacles they faced and where they want to focus their time 24 hours in advance of the meeting.
• As a leader or the coach in this instance, read over their responses to be prepared for the discussion.
• Stay on their agenda and ensure you leave with next steps before ending the session.
When you are working to build a high-performing team, areas such as embracing a culture of failure might be far down your list of priorities. I want to challenge you to think differently, as the research shows us that there are other ways to think about failure and support the team as a whole in continuing to grow together. In order to create greatness, the best of the best accept failure as part of their learning curve—whether they are an athlete, a leader or a team member with high potential.
If you want your team to achieve greatness, focus on holding discussions around failure and how it can lead to growth. Prioritize these conversations with team members, and support growth with consistent coaching sessions.
When you work on implementing any new behavior, it will take time. The more you can support each other in reframing how you approach situations of failure, the more you can unlock the full potential of team members and assist everyone on the team in reaching new heights as they continue to grow, learn and develop.
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