“What kind of bird brain are you? Gosh, a three year old could have done a better job than that!” As contributors to the future success of your organization, those words can be the most counterproductive in the English language. How many times have you seen or experienced a response like this to a mistake at work and the victim, already crushed with disappointment at the failure, feels even worse after a tremendous scolding?

What do we teach by behaving like this or tolerating it? We demonstrate our belief that success is everything, the only acceptable outcome of any initiative. If Edison had thought that way, we’d still be relying on candlelight for those long, dark winter nights!

If you want your workplace to be ultra-successful, cutting-edge technology, a unique product, the best processes, and people alone won’t get you there. Yes, the bean-counting ultra-successful workplace shares all of those qualities, but the added magic ingredient is by becoming a place people would almost die to join, it becomes more successful by fostering discovery and innovation. As leaders, this is something we must nurture…and failure is a stepping stone to success.

The bean-counting ultra-successful workplace won’t achieve that status unless it becomes a workplace where people would almost die for the chance to join. That’s the hard part. The simplest components are the ones that usually come to mind immediately: ensuring great technology, a unique product well made or delivered, the best processes, an accomplished sales force…and one more thing: encouraging discovery and the innovation. Part of that is establishing the characteristics of the appropriate environment, and there are two. The first is the easiest: the physical environment and requirements. More difficult is to create a culture that encourages discovery and innovation and, more importantly, accepts mistakes, those of our people and ours.

How many of us have learned to ride a bike without ever putting a finger on the ground… mastered a foreign language without embarrassing moments… or learned to dive without experiencing an occasional belly bump? Failure is not the problem. The problem is not learning.

The appearance of a pattern of errors signals the need to take some steps very quickly, there are important discoveries to be made, questions to be asked. One of the biggest is if this staff member is working in an area that he loves, is he living his values? Unless that is the case, she will never stand out. Sometimes we may find that the best option for both our organization and the individual is to find another role, one that they enjoy and can be successful in.

Ultra-successful workplaces practice enlightened management, but that doesn’t mean it guarantees lifetime employment. When you have failed in your goal of hiring for values, when you recognize that one staff member’s talents are incompatible with those needed in the organization, instead of dramatically and harshly firing them, you respectfully and compassionately guide them to another. organization, more appropriate.

The next time one of your employees fails, ask yourself the questions that will contribute to their future success. Harness the power of failure as a springboard to success!

The ten most important questions to ask after a team member’s failure… in an atmosphere of collegial exploration.

1) What was the desired result?

2) What were the first neglected warning signs?

3) What were the most important resources that were not consulted?

4) What intuitive signals did you miss?

5) To what extent were you on your best game and what was getting in your way?

6) To what extent could better time management have influenced the result?

7) If you started over, what would you do differently?

8) In terms of benefit to the organization, what is the most important learning?

9) What is the most important learning about yourself?

10) What is the best way I can support you right now?

May 2009.