Adapt Book Review

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Learn from Failure

Failure is a great teacher. To learn from failure, try something new that only you can do, perhaps something with fewer possible negative consequences. Choreographer Twyla Tharp premiered Movin’ Out, her original ballet musical based on Billy Joel’s music, in Chicago rather than New York so she could test the show before taking it to Broadway. The show failed in Chicago. Because of Tharp and Joel’s high profiles, the media reported the failure more harshly than it would have in dealing with other preview shows with less-famous backers and creators.

Simple denial is a common initial response to failure: You are right and others are wrong. Trying to “chase” your losses is a second common response: You keep trying the same things that didn’t work, in an attempt to do it right and earn back your lost money or reputation. To avoid that trap, Tharp separated herself from the specific failure of Movin’ Out. Then she could acknowledge that her show failed without thinking of herself as a failure. In establishing that mind-set, Tharp relied upon her “validation squad.” She turned to this supportive group of friends with good judgment who she knew would tell her the truth about her work. Do as Tharp do: Re-evaluate your attempt, reinvent it and find something that works. After listening to intelligent feedback and reviewing her own mistakes, Tharp adapted Movin’ Out in accordance with what she learned, and it eventually became a hit. Rather than wallow in failure or insist that she was in the right, Tharp evolved the show.

Adaptation

Though experts may advise companies to change and adapt with the times, in reality, adaptation might not be a conscious act that you commit. Instead, circumstance might force you to adapt. You don’t need a sweeping vision of the future into which you’re leading your company. Instead, let each branch or unit of your organization take responsibility for meeting its own challenges as they arise. Make the risk of failure as low as possible, and let employees try new things. If they fail, they learn. If they succeed, harvest the idea and share it with other parts of the organization.

Give workers specific criteria for performance, and make your shared goals clear; then trust your people to rise to the occasion and handle any situation. Consider “peer monitoring” so that everyone in your organization monitors quality and hierarchies ideas. Learn from Google’s example and give employees paid time to research their own interests. Thus you follow your workers’ innovations, rather than trying to dictate where the company should go. This means acknowledging the evolutionary forces at work in business: Try a lot of things and follow up with those that perform.