9 Reasons Why People Fail And Two Ways To Fix It

Earlier today, while looking through some files, I stumbled on a mistake made by a colleague. It wasn't a significant mistake, but one that made our work look sloppy and if repeated could throw off an important process. Immediately I started to compose an email to bring attention to this mistake, and to ask her to check her work for other errors. My message was polite, but the tone was clear: YOU GOT THIS WRONG.

Then, right before I hit send, it occurred to me that I'd given her the instructions on this project. What if I'd given her the wrong guidance? I looked back in my records and was humbled by what I saw: my instructions could easily be misinterpreted. The mistake was at least partly mine.

I was ready to lay blame, but my information was incomplete. I thought the mistake represented sloppy work; instead, it represented inadequate instruction. This reminded me of research by Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School. In her book Teaming, Dr. Edmondson identified nine levels of failure. Imagine these on a spectrum:

• Deviance
• Inattention
• Lack of Ability
• Process Inadequacy
• Task Challenge
• Process Complexity
• Uncertainty
• Hypothesis Testing
• Exploratory Testing

(Find more insights from Dr. Edmondson here.)

The first point on the failure spectrum, deviance, is the result of an individual's intentional choice to violate a process or practice. Way at the other end of the spectrum, the failures are the result of an innovation process and can be expected and even encouraged because we learn from them. For everything else in the middle of the spectrum, it can be hard to point a finger at just one person or decision.

Think of your last mistake - where did it fall on the #failure spectrum? Diagnose and fix, from @ValuesDriven.

While I initially thought my colleague's mistake was due to inattention, instead it was likely due to lack of ability (since her training hadn't been thorough) or process inadequacy (since our systems left room for misinterpretation).

Beating The Odds: How Not To Fail

The possibility of failure is all around us. Some leaders estimate that 60 to 70 percent of efforts at change fail. Let's take a timely example: according to some estimates, only 8% of New Year's Resolutions succeed. If you're not excelling at your January plans to eat less and exercise more, is it because you have a deviant personality? Probably not. It's likely due more to task challenge and process complexity: it's hard to readjust your shopping, dining, and schedule to accommodate your goals, and unless you do, your motivation can lag.

We can't prevent all failure, but we can improve the odds of success. Here are two strategies for increasing your success rate:

#1: Diagnose the real source of failure.

What this really means is stop blaming others. When we are honest about why a failure occurred, we have to admit that multiple factors were at play. Unless intentional deviance was one of them, then pointing fingers is unlikely to solve the real problem.

This doesn't mean we ignore failure. Just the opposite; in fact, we can confront it with more confidence that we'll actually see improvement because instead of blaming a person, we see that the real culprits are things like lack of ability, process inadequacy, task challenge, process complexity, and uncertainty. Once we consider those factors, we can find a way to fix the problem so it doesn't happen again.

Put Edmondson's nine levels of failure on your screen saver or post them on your office wall so you can refer to them each time you confront a failure, yours or others'. They will help you fix failures faster and more effectively.

#2: Frame feedback in a way that inspires change.

Mistakes and failures still have to be addressed, but you can address them in ways that prevent defensiveness and create better solutions. In our next post, we'll share tips for how to do this using our "Find it, Flip it, Elevate it" process, but you can get a sneak peek of the process here.

In my own case, once I diagnosed the real source of failure (my confusing directions), I knew I couldn't blame my colleague. Instead, I let her know I'd uncovered the mistake, explained how it probably happened, and reaffirmed my own intention to do the work the right way, sharing how important I felt it was to our team's success.

This is a simple example of failure, but in business we encounter much more complex situations, with much more important consequences. Diagnosing the real cause and working with colleagues to create a response that inspires change will make success more likely the next time around.

posted by www.forbes.com