The Anti-Explanation Approach to Failure

In the broader cultural world of entrepreneurship we celebrate fuck-ups.

So, I found it weird that I felt nervous before the meeting where I would have to confess that I didn’t complete my report on time. Pathetically, I spent the better half of the morning mentally scripting all the valid reasons for my failure. Then, when my turn came to share, after everyone boasted about how great they were doing, a watered-down version of the truth came out of my mouth - one that explained the problem away while keeping my ego intact, and protected the sacred success of our team.

This led me to wonder… Maybe, on the surface, we celebrate fuck-ups. We buy tickets to the events and share podcast episodes with friends and say how inspiring it is, but where do daily slip ups and missed targets really live? Despite the praise on Linkedin, are failures still taboo?

I decided to do some digging and, ironically, researchers have suggested that efforts to increase strategies for error-prevention can often have a negative effect. The desire to minimize errors can 1) inhibit innovation and creativity, because employees don’t want to take risks that may lead to greater errors, and (2) inhibit how successfully teams move on from errors once they occur, as tensions around error prevention can make it harder for teams to move past them. The same research (linked below) has highlighted the importance of dealing with errors as they occur in an open and learning-oriented way.

Failing on Purpose

In order for mistakes to be useful and lead to learning, researchers suggest that there are three key steps to successfully negotiating a failure experience:

1. recognizing that failure has occurred

2. restoring and/or maintaining emotional equilibrium

3. learning the appropriate lessons so that one can move forward as a more effective worker

   
   

More specifically, healthy workplace affordances (basically the degree to which your environment invites and supports worker engagement) are critical determinants of whether failures lead to development and learning OR stigma. Additionally, workplaces that provide structured support and a high degree of tolerance allow errors to serve as bases for reflection, discussion, and productive learning. Experts suggest that this situational mediation is often “planfully” organized, for example by sequencing tasks so that initial mistakes occur where they are redeemable and can be used to hone developing skills.

In other words, the best leaders help their teams fail on purpose.

Remember, Failure is Personal

It is important to keep in mind that an individual’s reaction to their own fallibility is shaped by their personal agency and previous experiences. This means that, if you’re like me, you might view failing to reach a deadline a failure, even if it is not publicly viewed as a failure.

For those of us who feel like we failed, it can be really uncomfortable to share that you’re off the mark on this quarter’s KPIs in a room full of overachievers, and so it’s become common practice to try to ease that discomfort by explaining it away.

Think about it: when was the last time you shared a failure without adding a “but…” or a caveat?

Our customer churn rates are rising, BUT after that [reason 1] it was so hard to get back on track, and then [reason 2] showed up. On the plus side, our [something positive] are on track so it’s most likely a temporary blip because [reason 1].

But what if we resisted the unproductive masking and just called it like it is?

Our customer churn rates are rising. It’s disappointing and when I first calculated it, it made me nervous.

Resisting explaining - the anti-explanation - puts the facts and any possible tensions on the table. Most importantly, it OPENS the discussion for more questions and getting deeper to the root of the problem rather than burying the problem in reasons.

For example…

Thank you for sharing. Can you tell us a bit more about why it makes you nervous?

Well, it could be an indication of a bigger problem, perhaps we are focusing too much on acquiring new customers and this is a signal that we ought to distribute our attention to our existing ones.

The quick n’ dirty

Failure is a socio-personal process that’s essential for performance. If you want to create a failure friendly workplace:

• Eliminate Stigma: Actively work to prevent environments where errors are met with "ridicule and intolerance," as this leads to anxiety and more mistakes.

• Invite Failure: Create a safe space where workers feel they can admit to mistakes and gain support rather than feeling the need to "cover up" to avoid punishment.

• Build Failure into the Program: Smart teams "planfully" organize tasks so beginners can make small, redeemable mistakes without high stakes.

• Manage Power Dynamics: Be mindful that how an error is treated often depends on the "standing of the person" (e.g., owners vs. staff); teams should strive for a more equitable approach to how mistakes are handled across different roles.

References

Billett, S. (2012). Errors and learning from errors at work. In Human fallibility: The ambiguity of errors for work and learning (pp. 17-32). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Newton, N. A., Khanna, C., & Thompson, J. (2008). Workplace failure: Mastering the last taboo. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 60(3), 227.

Ulrich, D., Jick, T., & Von Glinow, M. A. (1993). High-impact learning: Building and diffusing learning capability. Organizational dynamics, 22(2), 52-66.