The following is a guest post by Pablo Mujica, marketing and communications assistant at the Center for Collaborative Leadership. We are thrilled to have Pablo join our team, and offer his thoughts on leadership and the role of failure. 

Throughout my academic career (which looks like it’s never going to end at this point), I have had plenty of experience with teams. And, as you might expect, not all of these teams have been successful.

I’ve been on teams with such lack of communication, dynamics, and respect for each other that not even the greatest Ted Talk about leadership could bring us together. Teams that would make the most seasoned leader wonder, “How do these people ever get work done!?”.

Through all of these experiences, one thing I’ve noticed is that teams seem to break down when their leader has a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for failure within the group.

The role of failure

Many leaders don’t understand the role of failure within a team, much less within the context of an entire organization. Some leaders tend to demonize the concept of failing so much that, when it does happen, no one has any idea what to do next. By assuming that failure has no intrinsic value whatsoever, leaders often make the mistake of punishing their team for not being able to accomplish their goals. This rarely helps to solve anything and, in fact, can lower the team’s morale and creativity when embarking on the next project.

Failure should be valued by leaders as much as success is. When a team fails at a task, they can regroup, analyze why they’ve failed, and be able to develop a strategy that will help them avoid making the same mistakes in the future. One of my favorite quotes regarding failure comes from Thomas Edison, who said “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” I like this quote so much because it tells you one essential truth about failure: It is far more educational than success.

For those hoping to capture the power of teams, let’s talk about how to use failure in your team’s favor.

1. Create a place where your team feels safe to fail and learn
   I can’t stress this enough. If your team doesn’t feel safe to fail around you, then they will avoid trying anything new. By creating a team environment where failure is accepted and valued as necessary to the learning process, leaders will see their teams improve over time, have more confidence, produce more innovative and creative ideas, and become much more successful in the future.

2. Don’t hide your failures
   Some leaders are so infatuated with meeting budgets and reaching sale goals that they sometimes avoid discussing their mistakes with others. When leaders embrace their failures and try to educate their team on how to not make the same mistakes, the work environment can improve drastically by generating more honest interactions within the group.Take the heads of Google Larry Page and Sergey Brin, for example, they have invested millions of dollars on ideas that were practically doomed from the start. They call these ventures “Moonshots Projects” and they have a whole website filled with improbable projects, I encourage you to check them out.The point is, Larry and Sergey are not shy about showing off their failures to the public, which is the reason why they have so much success with the projects that are actually successful. They have created an environment where Google employees are able to create amazing products by learning from past mistakes.

3. Learn when to move on
   As much as someone can keep learning from their mistakes, it is important to keep in mind not to get stuck dwelling on failures. A good leader never stops working to find new ways to tackle a problem, so once they’ve learned what went wrong, they should go ahead and give it another shot. Going back to Edison’s quote, how did this experiment move us one step closer to our goal?

As the academic year gets underway, and I begin what I hope is my final year in the dissertation process, I’m experimenting with productivity techniques  – you know, so I can actually finish. For the fall, I am taking a vacation day each week to focus on my dissertation. Carving out this chunk of uninterrupted time was a significant first step for me. It required that I set boundaries and realistic expectations for myself and with my team, family, etc. (more on each of these topics in upcoming blogs).

Given all of the research on the effects of multi-tasking, I approached last week’s writing day with the Pomodoro Technique firmly in hand. However, given that I was spending the day writing and researching, rather than the 25 minute blocks of time suggested, I opted for 90 minutes. I blocked the better part of 6 hours into 90 minute segments with 15 minute breaks.

8-9:30 Work on Intro chapter

9:30-9:45 break

9:45 – 11:15 Work on Methods chapter

11:15 – 11:30 break

11:30 – 1 pm Work on Methods chapter

1 – 1:15 pm lunch

1:15 – 2:45 pm Assemble Lit Review reading list

The first 90-minute segment started off laughably. I sat down, with the best of intentions, to focus on the Introduction chapter of my dissertation. I don’t think it had been three minutes before I was doing a ‘quick scan of email.’ And, of course I had to read and respond to the text message that buzzed on my phone. I literally had to shut down all of the apps, other than Microsoft Word, on my computer, and place my phone in another room. It took me a good 20 minutes to settle into the chapter. Once I did, however, I found that I was able to move through it quickly.

I had ‘planned’ my breaks as a way to make progress on a bunch of smaller tasks that I’d been letting pile up. In other words, while it was a break from the cerebral work of academic research and writing, it was not really a break!

By the end of the day, while I’d made significant progress on all of the topics I’d planned to address, I was mentally exhausted. I was so exhausted, in fact, that it wasn’t until the middle of the next day that I began to feel like myself again – not the best testament for productivity when you are ultra-productive one day but pay for it the next…

What did I learn from this experiment?

• I’ve created a habit of distraction. My mind has gotten used to not being able to focus for any extended period on a single topic. And so, when no distractions present themselves, I will create them.
• Conversely, when I get into the groove of productivity, I am able to get quality work done.
• I tend to set unrealistic expectations for myself. This was evidenced both in my approach to the method and in the work product I intended to accomplish.

What will I do differently this week?

• I will ratchet it back and follow the method as it was designed.
  • Scheduling 25 minute blocks of work.
  • Taking breaks as breaks.
• I will plan the blocks of time in advance and work with an accountability partner to determine if they are reasonable.

I believe that much of what I do, whether it is setting the strategic direction for the center, or engaging with the team, alumni of the Emerging Leaders Program, or clients, will benefit tremendously from my ability to be fully present. Therefore, I am dedicated to building new habits of mind that allow me to be more focused on the task – or person – in front of me. I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going!

Over the past few days, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with several talented individuals who have either recently been laid off or in the process of being laid off. Having had this experience not once, but twice, in my career, I am acutely aware of the psychological toll this turn of events can take.

The first time I was laid off, I spent a good deal of time ruminating over what I could have done differently. This lay-off had a conscious and subconscious impact on me. Consciously, I worried about how the job market would receive me. Would they think me a poor performer for having been let go? I worried about job security. How could I insulate my family from having this happen again? And, I didn’t know who I was outside of my job title. How would I answer the question, “So, what do you do?” as I began networking.

Subconsciously, I placed a lot of blame and shame on myself for doing this to my family. Just take a moment to take in the power of this sentence, I held myself wholly responsible. I did this. Ouch! While I hadn’t actually said those words to myself, my actions certainly exemplified it. My next role was in a large, well-established organization and I worked diligently to prove my worth to my bosses and business partners. It wasn’t enough to meet expectations, I needed to exceed them. And, by the time I took the job after that, I had a well-earned reputation for not only being a strong performer but for being a workaholic. What I didn’t understand at the time was that this was my way of trying to make myself indispensable, not from an egotistical perspective, but rather for the safety and security of my family. The irony is, this ended up being the position from which I was laid off the second time in my career.

So, what have I learned? Far more important than what the marketplace or those you are networking with think of your having been laid off, is how you think about it. The language we use when we talk to ourselves (both aloud and in our heads) has power. Are your words compassionate and constructive? Or are they critical? One litmus test for this is, if your best friend had been the one who had been laid off, would you say these things to them? I am not suggesting a rose-colored glasses, ignore reality, view of the situation, but rather that you are able to look at it with a bit more objectivity.

An important step is to get out there. One response to a traumatic event, such as being laid off, is to retreat – to withdraw back into our shells to protect ourselves. Perhaps a healthier approach is to actively engage with others. You will be surprised at how vast and supportive your network really is. A few ideas:

• Meet with those people in your life who can help you see how much bigger you are than any title that you’ve held; who can remind you of your true value.
• Meet with those who have been through this so that you may better understand that you are not alone and to realize that you will survive.
• Meet with those who work for companies, or do the sort of work that you may be interested in. They can offer valuable insight.
• Join associations and/or volunteer for organizations whose mission and values align with yours.

I can tell you that both of my lay-off’s ended up being gifts to me that, ultimately, helped me to see more clearly who I am and how I can best contribute to the world around me, and for that I am most grateful.

This guest post is by Greg Collins of Collins Consulting. Greg focuses on both individual and organizational change as the means of delivering results and is leading the first in a series of master classes focused on change management. Register now for his November 2nd workshop, Creating and Implementing Strategy Amidst Change, which will be held at the Westin Copley in Boston.

As I prepare to lead the upcoming Master Class Workshop on Strategic and Organizational Change Management, I reread John Kotter’s 2012 HBR article “Accelerate.” His view that strategy is a “dynamic force that constantly seeks opportunities, identifies initiatives that will capitalize on them, and completes those initiatives swiftly and efficiently” is in lock step with the way I have approached strategy development and implementation over the last 20 years as both an operator and a consultant.

When I think about developing strategies that actually make a difference, these four components are essential:

1. Start with purpose and vision: Why the organization exists and what the organization will look like at a specific point in the future
2. Make sure the strategy development process is on-going, not episodic, and disciplined
3. Be Inclusive: Include people at all levels throughout the organization
4. Engage people’s hearts as well as their heads

1. Start with Purpose and Vision:

Stephen Covey said, “Start with the end in mind” in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  The same statement is as relevant for organizations as it is for people.  When we think about organizations, “vision” is what we’re going to look like when we get there; “purpose” is why we felt it was worth bothering to get there in the first place.  Why start with purpose and vision?  Because they’re the anchors for strategy, and because they excite people– more on that topic toward the end of this blog.

As a friend once told me, “If we don’t know where we’re going, any train will get us there.“ It’s essential that we know where we’re going, our vision, before we start to think about how we’re going to get there.  And that’s what strategy is. It’s how we’re going to get to our destination, our vision, our desired future state.  The essence of strategy is making choices – do we take the train, bus, or Uber?

2. Strategy Is Ongoing, Not Episodic:

Strategy, when done well, is a way of thinking that permeates an organization from top to bottom.  It’s a mindset that says, “There’s always a better way to do whatever it is we’re doing.”  Far too often, organizations – whether private sector, nonprofit, or government – approach strategy as an episodic obligation that once “completed” can be put on the shelf and revisited in a few years.   Strategic thinking is a continuous cycle, not a line with a beginning and an end.  And strategic thinking, like any discipline, follows a couple of rules:  it’s fact based and it questions everyone’s unquestioned assumptions.  If we use data, both qualitative and quantitative, challenge our assumptions and beliefs, and keep repeating that cycle – we’ll surprise ourselves with the strategic insights we generate.  And, looping back to the Kotter quote at the beginning of the blog, strategy is done continuously.

3. Be Inclusive:

Adapting to change is the responsibility of the whole business, not just the top echelon.  Unfortunately, that’s not the way change is typically addressed in most organizations.  Responding to change and developing strategy are often the responsibility of an organization’s senior managers, who then delegate the implementation to those lower down in the organization.  And because the implementers weren’t involved in crafting the strategy, the first speed bump they hit generally causes the strategy to be put on the shelf while the organization reverts to what it’s most comfortable doing. To be effective, strategy development needs to include people from throughout the organization.  It’s essential that we collect and incorporate the knowledge and insights of people with multiple perspectives.

4. Engage People’s Hearts as Well as Heads:

While inclusivity is important, there’s still one more step – engaging our colleagues’ hearts in addition to their heads. People want to know in their hearts that their input into the strategy matters and they want to feel that where they’re going matters too.  That last thought brings us back to the importance of purpose and vision that we talked about at the start of this blog.  It’s essential that we engage their hearts, their passion, and their spirit.  It’s the fire that comes from that level of engagement that enables us to overcome the inevitable roadblocks that we confront as we implement any strategy.

If you’re one of those people who, like me, believes that clear, compelling strategy that actually gets implemented, and actually delivers results is essential to thriving in this world of increasingly rapid change – please join me, ideally with a colleague or two, at the Master Class Workshop, Creating and Implementing Strategy Amidst Change on November 2^nd.