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Learning from Failure

Olivier Serrat2013

Living on the EdgeInfinite complexity, endless possibilities, and resulting constant change characterize our time. In the 21st century, individuals, groups, and organizations must create, innovate, and—especially—reflect to tackle challenges in environment, economy, society, polity, and technology.Since success always starts with failure, generating the solutions we need demands the ability to take risks, embrace failure, and move on: all is not lost if the lesson is not.'Tis the maddest trick a man can ever play in his whole life, to let his breath sneak out of his body without any more ado, and without so much as a rap o'er the pate, or

a kick of the guts; to go out like the snuff of a farthing candle, and die merely of the mulligrubs, or the sullens.—Miguel

de Cervantes

The Optimism of ChildrenChildren are not afraid to fall short: they fail countless times at standing, walking, talking, riding a bicycle, tying shoelaces, and other important tasks.

Playing is a vital part of the lives of children: it leads to sense-making (constructing) in a social world that values participation, and that leads to knowing. Is it because they no longer play that adults are afraid to slip? After all, is play not the opposite of work?

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a

beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most

creative periods of my life.—Steve Jobs

Allaying Adult FearsFailure is something adults shy from. Their fear is understandable: they are paid to succeed, not blunder.Despite the occasional exhortation—"If you're not making mistakes, you're not trying hard enough!"—personnel knows that mistakes are generally punished, not appreciated.As a result, many adults are reluctant to admit shortcomings and take as few chances as possible. This inhibits individual and collective growth and leads to procrastination and purposelessness.Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.—Winston

ChurchillA man's errors are his portals of discovery.—James Joyce

Forgotten Wisdom for Adults

The key to establishing learning systems is tolerance of failure, continuous feedback on effectiveness, and willingness to foster creativity and innovation.

Psychological safety, appreciation of differences, receptiveness to new ideas, and time for reflection are prerequisites to learning. Organizations cannot promote a passion for learning and pursue courses of action that frustrate it.

Failure is the

condiment that gives

success its

flavor.—Truman Capote

The Attributes of FailureFailure is not inherently bad: it softens hearts, develops maturity, broadens thinking, offers insights, prompts innovation, reveals ability, inspires, reinforces the need for risk, builds courage, fortifies, opens other opportunities, brings unexpected benefits, pushes the envelope of future performance, liberates, and makes success sweeter; it is preferable to bitterness and regret.To better grasp the attributes of failure and treat it as a friend, we should not define them (nor those of success) narrowly. Failure is best conceptualized as deviation from expected and desired results.

Failing Forward

To fail forward

• Appreciate that failure is not avoidable, objective, a single event, a stigma, the enemy, or final.

• Understand why you made the decision you took based on the information you had.

• Assess you decisions based on what you knew at the time.

• Judge the systemic errors you committed in under- or overestimating difficulties, costs, timelines, abilities, etc.

• Examine whether you had all the information you needed.

• Investigate what successes are contained in the failure and draw dividends.

• Plan to obtain more and better information to underpin future decisions.

• Use the experience to build and work from strengths.

• Set a new goal, order your plan, take action, reevaluate progress, and adjust continually.

Failing Forward

Give me a fruitful error any time, full of seeds,

bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truth for yourself.—Vilfredo

Pareto

Further Reading• ADB. 2009. Dimensions of the Learning

Organization. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/dimensions-learning-organization

• ADB.2009. Learning from Evaluation. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/learning-evaluation

• ADB.2009. Building a Learning Organization. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/building-learning-organization

• ADB. 2009. Understanding Complexity. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/understanding-complexity

• ADB. 2010. Embracing Failure. Manila. Available: www.adb.org/publications/embracing-failure

Olivier SerratPrincipal Knowledge Management Specialist

Regional and Sustainable Development Department

Asian Development Bank

knowledge@adb.orgwww.adb.org/knowledge-managementwww.facebook.com/adbknowledgesolutionswww.scribd.com/knowledge_solutions

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