As Jill sat down for her session, she couldn't shake the disappointment of the board's decision.
The board's unexpected rejection of her team's proposal, which had involved months of planning and effort, was a major setback. The months of work had felt like a waste.
When I expressed empathy for her frustration, she showed hallmark resilience. “It is what it is”, she sighed. “Onward and upward.”
We are often asked what books, courses, podcasts and habits we would recommend people utilise. But what if one of the most important tools you can have as a person, a leader, and a team to promote growth and excellence was free? Free, customised to your circumstances and time efficient.
It’s wisdom, and it’s even more powerful than success.
To win a contract, nail a pitch or even navigate an unstable market is great. But if we don’t take time to maximise the learning from it from what it taught us we’ve missed a critical opportunity. The concept of debriefing (from the lantern origins meaning ‘a short undoing’) was first popularised by the military, who noticed that not only was combining the learnings of the day’s battle healing, it was a way to maximise combined lessons. Doing the debriefing in close proximity to the event was also more valuable than doing so after long time periods had passed (eg annual offsites for Corproates).
Neurologically speaking, as children, all events result in changes in brain plasticity. They have only to passively hear a dog bark they adapt to be cautious, or to hear a different accent from a daycare worker to adjust the way their brain interprets words. As adults, plasticity only occurs when we are deliberate. For example, we decide to learn a new language or overcome a bad habit.
It means to maximise wisdom and changes in behaviour we need to deliberately reflect. In a cognitive landscape cluttered with a million data points and past, present and future vantage points, if you don’t stop and pan for the gold you are at risk of stepping on it half a dozen times while you are busy searching for it.
Jill was less convinced, priding herself on someone who refused to ‘wallow’ or get focused on things she could not change. I asked her the classic ‘baton’ question. If she was passing the baton to a past self CEO just heading into this experience again, what would her advice be? She paused, mildly irritated.
“I’d clarify the Board’s risk appetite right at the beginning…” was her first reflection. A pause, and the next one rolled out “I’d side bar a project team to work on this until late in the process so we ran faster, used less time, and didn’t risk BAU with the distraction” … “Oh, and…. “ the wisdom surprised even herself. I asked if she had had this discussion with the team, or whether it might be useful.
Success or failure is wasted if we don’t maximise the learning from it.
留言