The Harvard Business Review listed a great post on failure on Monday. Scott Edinger, a consultant and the author of the article, principles for how to respond to failure well. I particularly enjoyed his first point: “Acknowledge the failure and put it in perspective.” This is much easier said and understood than obeyed. Edinger explains his point well,
You can’t begin to bounce back from a mistake if you don’t admit you’ve made it. As obvious as it sounds, it’s clearly not always easy to do. Research shows that owning up to their mistakes is the key factor separating those who handle failure well from those who don’t. Those who were derailed perseverated and didn’t talk to others about it. They made little attempt to rectify the consequences. Those who weren’t derailed did the opposite: They admitted their mistakes, accepted responsibility, and then took steps to fix the problem. And afterwards, they proceeded to forget about it and move on.
Edinger’s four other points are as follows:
Look for causes, not blame.
Before you wrack your brain to think up an appropriate response, take a break.
Get some help.
Refocus your efforts and take action.
Read the whole post here.
