Date post: | 18-Jul-2015 |
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Presentations & Public Speaking |
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So That Didn’t Work: Sharing and learning from failure
Ashley Good
@FailForward
FailForward.org
Good Listeners
• Listen• Don’t judge• Don’t try to solve it• Be supportive & “on my team”• Recognize the courage it takes to tell a
failure story• Ask "so what?" and "now what?“
questions
Fix My Story
“I got funding from EWB to start a website so that failures and learnings could be shared. No one used the site. EWB didn’t see the potential and cut funding to the project so it failed. “
It’s hard to learn anything from this story.
Why is that?
Good Tellers• Tell a story• Pick one that has meaning to you• Don’t blame• Look for root causes• Focus on the learning• Include perspectives from other
stakeholders
Example Learning Questions
• So what? o Why does this failure matter?o What were the consequences of this
failure?• Now what?
o What will you do differently? o Who else might benefit from this learning?o How has your understanding of the
situation changed since it happened?• Any other question(s) you are curious about...
Example Meaning Questions
• Why is this story important to share?• Why is this story important to someone
outside of your immediate context?• Is this failure a part of any trends you notice? • What does this failure cause you to question?• How would other characters in this story talk
about this failure?• Any other question(s) you are curious about...
Example Learning Questions
• So what? o Why does this failure matter?o What were the consequences of this
failure?• Now what?
o What will you do differently? o Who else might benefit from this learning?o How has your understanding of the
situation changed since it happened?• Any other question(s) you are curious about...
Example Meaning Questions
• Why is this story important to share?• Why is this story important to someone
outside of your immediate context?• Is this failure a part of any trends you notice? • What does this failure cause you to question?• How would other characters in this story talk
about this failure?• Any other question(s) you are curious about...
Failure.
How do you deal with failure?
How do you deal with trying things that you're not sure will work?
Reflection.
How do you ensure you’re taking time for learning?
What does that reflection and adaptation time look like?
Feedback.
How do you ensure that all of your staff are giving and receiving feedback?
What does that look like?
Innovation Structures.What formal structures for innovation exist at your org? (e.g. innovation time, team, labs)
If nothing, what have you thought about, or heard of?