Teamership: Interrogating success
What if we explored our success in the same way that we investigate our failures? Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash
Teamership is the product of bringing our best and bringing out the best in others. In order to do that, it makes sense that we need to understand what it takes to be at our best - either individually or collectively.
While it makes sense, it is something that too many of us are unable to identify and articulate.
When things go wrong, we are understandably very keen to understand what happened. What assumptions did we make that were incorrect? What circumstances did we not foresee? What did we underestimate?
Essentially, we are asking…what can we do to avoid failure next time?
When things don’t go to plan, we are good at analysing what happened.
When we meet or exceed or targets, we are far less likely to approach a review with the same vigour. We are busy, the next piece of work is already upon us (or commenced) and mostly we are relieved that things didn’t go wrong!
We don’t interrogate success.
What if we explored our success in the same way that we investigate our failures? What might we ask?
Here are a few things that might come up…What went even better than we expected? What were the key factors that led to this result? Is what we did repeatable and scalable? Could we teach our colleagues in other teams to apply these principles? What do we know now that we didn’t know when we started?
Essentially, we are asking…what can we do to increase our chances of success next time?
Of course, it doesn’t have to be either/or. Avoiding failure and striving for success can be complementary activities. There are enough triggers in our ways of working to ensure that we pay attention to avoiding failure. Interrogating success happens far too infrequently and could be the key to unlocking great things for you and your team.
Some questions for you to consider this week:
Do you and your teams focus on avoiding failure or striving for success?
When was the last time you acknowledged and reflected deeply on your success?
How could you help others better understand their best performances?