If you learned, it is not failure

In an increasingly sophisticated and connected business world, certainties become complex and rare. This affects companies in many ways. For example, in the leadership of companies that must constantly innovate to differentiate themselves and thus achieve and sustain success.

In this context, one of the most strategic things is to understand how to deal, in practice, with failure in the everyday life of organizations. That is because, of course, the possibility of failing is part of life and, therefore, of the day-to-day of every company.

On this subject, an important variable is time. “Failing fast” can mean learning more quickly. That is because, by quickly recognizing that you were going down the wrong path, it is then possible to stop the misguided process, stem the waste and redirect energy, time, work, resources... to seek a new, better path. And this can optimize results and yield very relevant learning.

Thus, failures that are perceived quickly and that lead to changes of course and the resulting learning need to be encouraged, never punished.

For this to really work, leaders must be examples to follow. They need to be the first not to mind – responsibly – taking risks. Obviously, making it clear that it is normal to make mistakes, but only as long as this produces “intelligent failures.”

In other words, failing in order to learn (intelligent failures), while at the same time steering clear of preventable errors which, as Amy Emondson explains in the book “The Fearless Organization,” involve “deviations from known processes that produce unwanted outcomes.”

For this to really work, relationships between leaders and their teams need to be based on a great deal of mutual trust and respect. This is not so simple to create in everyday practice, which is stressful and sometimes wrapped up in vanity and personal rivalries. However, only then will it be possible to create an environment in which exposing and solving problems becomes natural, which is the foundation of lean.

Very differently, when a social and psychological environment is created based on looking for culprits and on punishment, that is, one in which errors are attributed to people rather than to processes, trust and respect are broken. And the organization begins to live in an environment of fear.

This is one of the biggest mistakes of companies with traditional management, the result of an exaggerated focus on hierarchy and on command and control: attributing failure to individuals instead of looking at processes. The environment becomes increasingly lacking in psychological safety. And real problems always get swept “under the rug.”

As a result, the social and psychological condition necessary for people to feel included, learn, contribute and challenge the status quo is not created. These are the four stages of psychological safety in Timothy Clark's model.

Consequently, from the standpoint of innovation, the organization fails to reap the fruits of diversity, safety, transparency... And it keeps producing “more of the same,” losing, among other things, the engagement and potential of the team.

In this sense, failure needs to be rethought within organizations. It should be seen as a real and powerful opportunity to generate learning, both individual and collective. This is a new mindset in which failing can and should effectively become a power plant generating improvements and innovation.

As shown, for example, by international consultant Katie Anderson in the book “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn”, recently published by Lean Institute Brasil (LIB), in which she tells of the mistakes and failures of Yoshino, a leader with nearly 40 years of experience at Toyota. And how this was continuously transformed into a source of knowledge and of management evolution.

Toyota's practices, the embryo of the lean system, have always been in this direction. In lean, the leader must start from the principle that people do not leave home for work thinking about doing a bad job. Quite the opposite.

However, people will always be involved in processes that can range from good to problematic. And that can lead to failures. Processes that sometimes were not created by them and over whose changes, in traditional companies, they have little or no autonomy.

It is with this mindset that the lean leader must act. For example, in day-to-day practice, always prioritizing asking “why?” more often than “who?”. This is an “instrumental” way of avoiding the search for culprits while trying to understand the root causes of errors, which are generally in the processes.

As Yoshino says, “failure is not failure if you learn something important that you could never have learned otherwise.”

This lean attitude encourages openness to exposing and solving problems. And it enhances learning. This enables more improvements and more innovation, involving many more people. It is the secret that makes organizations that are lean at their core more competitive in their respective markets.

This presupposes a leadership mindset that is more learner than hierarchical. Of the leader who “knows that he doesn't know everything,” but who seeks to understand problems and find solutions. Who also fails and exposes his own failure, showing himself to be vulnerable. And who is always learning from mistakes, never blaming people.

It is the kind of leader who is also responsible for challenging each team member, according to their capabilities, skills and potential, to continuously improve their respective work – without losing respect for people. These are leaders who know how to give full visibility to the purposes, objectives and targets that the team needs to achieve.

Day to day, a lean leader is someone who develops the team through problem solving. He supports, teaches and learns. He encourages teamwork through structured tools such as Daily Management (DM), for example.

And for all this to be possible, it is essential that he listens actively and empathetically. And that he is always present at the gemba, the place where the real work happens. Being at the gemba and knowing the work are foundations of lean leadership.

In short, the lean leader, once again in the words of Amy Edmondson, “sets the stage and invites participation.” His humility, in placing himself in the position of learner and acknowledging his own gaps, encourages the team to contribute, to dare and to learn, blazing new trails in pursuit of ever greater challenges and purposes, leveraging the organization's success.

In 2024, structural challenges will, as always, be part of organizations' daily life. We hope Christmas will be a time of peace, love, joy and fellowship... And also, why not, of reflection on how the relationship between leaders and their teams can be improved. So that we may have a happy New Year in management too.

Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2024.