MORNING MINUTE: 7/18//23
“So You Failed…Now What?”
Failures can be minor. They can be catastrophic.
You can allow failure to define you, allowing it to crush you. Or, you can accept that failure is always possible, make the required adjustments, and press forward toward your objective. You can also use failure to change directions altogether.
We need a way to analyze failure in a way that gives us the greatest chance to learn from it. Ask these questions…
WHO: Who was positively or negatively impacted by what happened? Were the right people involved in researching options, in formulating the plan, and in executing the plan? Who is ultimately responsible?
WHAT: Exactly what happened? What were the actions taken prior to the failure? During the event? And immediately after the failure? What steps should be taken to prevent the same mistake from happening again? Analyze every step taken or omitted.
WHEN: Look at the timing of the event. Did the required actions happen in the right sequence? If this was a timing issue, when would have a been better time to have a greater chance to win? Was not enough time or too much time allotted for success?
WHERE: Was there a better place for this plan to be executed? Where were the weak points in the plan that caused the failure?
WHY: Why did you need to accomplish this mission? Why did your plan fail? Why was there not enough planning to provide the equipment, the material, the people, or the training necessary to win?
HOW: How do we examine this failure to learn from it? How do we use data from this failure to not repeat it?
Each failure requires us to examine what went right as well as what went wrong. Look at yourself first, to determine what you could have done differently before, during, and after the failure. Use that knowledge to guide your team to achieve future success.
When you make decisions, some failures will occur. It is not the failures, no matter how large they are, that defeat you. Creating success from failure comes when you honestly examine your plans and what you could have done differently.
When you fail, look at the person in the mirror. Honestly assess your part in the failure. Learn from it. And remember…when God closes one door, He opens another.
Failure will only define you…If you allow it to define you!
“So You Failed, Now What?”
That is today’s Morning Minute.
MORNING MINUTE: 7/18//23
“How Will You Create Positive Change?”
There is template for how change occurs in a free society.
To understand change, let’s examine this template!
An individual has an idea. That idea leads to individual action. As the idea is put into action it is adjusted and refined. The idea is introduced to a group who adopts it. The group tests the idea and clarifies it. This updated idea, supported by a group becomes a movement. That movement creates positive change.
Consider Microsoft Corporation. Bill Gates and his friend, Paul Allen, initially collaborated to develop the BASIC operating system for mainframe computers. But they had an idea based on their own vision of the personal computer. They developed the operating system for the first PC for IBM. Then when IBM decided to concentrate only on mainframe computers, they formed a group which became Microsoft Corporation.
Their mission statement simple and direct, “A computer on every desk in every home.” With that initial idea, clarified by that mission statement, their team initiated a movement which created the world’s largest software company. It changed how we access information.
This true story is an example of how, in a free society, massive positive change can happen. It started with an idea. That idea led to action: the development of the operating system for a personal computer. When IBM veered away from that idea, they broke away, forming a group, Microsoft Corporation. That group created a movement that changed how individuals get information using a personal computer. That is how positive change happens in a free society.
Think of the numerous products that we use today that were not available in 1990. Look at today’s cell phones. They provide instant communication via call, text, and email. They allow us to take pictures and create videos. There are thousands of apps available allowing us to save time and money. This change in how we communicate and access information did not exist in 1990!
In our free society, individuals have ideas leading to actions. These ideas and actions are examined and clarified. A group is formed to support and promote the idea and they start a movement. And that movement, supported and promoted by the group, can create positive change.
Creating positive change is not just a process.
Creating positive change is the responsibility of a free people.
“How Will You Create Positive Change?”
That is today’s Morning Minute.
