Creating a positive failure experience

Testing by it's very nature is ambiguous, which makes planning around the things we do know hugely advantageous. It helps to control the uncontrolables - this is how i think about setting up to allow for failure.

The conditions

Will the world burn if it fails?

Are you betting the house with this test? and if it doesn’t go to plan, will the impact have a significant detrimental effect on the business, its viability, or your ability to meet material targets you’ve committed to. If the answer is yes, then perhaps you have to ask yourself if it’s responsible to be running the test right now.

Levers & options – what’s your back-up plan?

If the test doesn’t work, do you have other channels, budget, product initiatives, commercial options that you can call upon to navigate back to your desired targets and P&L accountabilities? The plan still has to be delivered, so how will you do that if your test fails. This is arguably the most critical component on this list. Having a good answer here demonstrates maturity, responsibility, creates trust with your stakeholders and provides much of the foundations for a positive experience – because the world won’t burn…..

?Timing & optics

Is the timing right? this may seem like semantics, but coming off the number right before a big shareholder meeting, or in the middle of a critical fundraising period can disproportionately dominate conversations and unfairly undermine credibility.

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The communication

Get buy-in

None of us operate in isolation, and if you fail to deliver your end of the bargain, it almost always has implications for other teams as well as the business performance in general – so tell your stakeholders what you’re thinking of doing, take them on the journey, unpack the rationale, the assumptions you’ve made, and explain how you’ll keep them informed and intend to manage the situation if it doesn’t go to plan – this stops unhelpful noise, strained relationships and finger pointing – and it’s just good form.

Be clear about the success criteria

Help those around you understand what you’re aiming to prove or deliver, that helps them judge and engage effectively. It also helps you get clear about what good looks like, and take objective, pro-active action if your criteria is not being met.

Manage expectations & over communicate

It’s amazing the fuss a few cross wires can cause…not to mention the distraction. Get in front of it, and if in doubt, over communicate. Stay in control of the narrative around your test, keep your stakeholders engaged, informed and confident that you’re firmly in control of the situation. Don’t fall into the trap of hiding if it’s going wrong. People fill in the blanks with their own assumptions in the absence of clarity – own your message, and tell the story as you want it to be perceived.

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The response

Monitor performance closely

Make sure you have the data points and tracking in place before you get underway to allow you to remain abreast of performance and most importantly, determine the point you might need to step in and course correct. If you don’t have this, then you’re flying blind and that prevents you from managing the business performance and resources responsibly.

Have a threshold for when you deploy the back-up plan

Don’t fall into the procrastination and ‘what if’ trap. Hope is not a strategy, and if it looks like it’s unravelling, it probably won’t suddenly come good, no matter how much rope you allow. The best way to stay objective and decisive is to commit to a pre-agreed threshold that determines when you take corrective action.

Stay on the number

Testing is essential, in some cases it’s even fun, it can generate buzz, excitement, but it can also be disheartening if it fails. Whatever the outcome, if you’ve done all of the above, then stay focussed and deliver the plan. The way you show up in both success and failure directly influences the trust you’ll be shown next time around.

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The wash up

If you failed, own it …..and normalise owning it

Don’t let ego get in the way. No matter that level you’re operating at, being humble, mature and professional about failure helps others feel comfortable with the concept of not always being right – that’s quite simply unrealistic, and if you are by some miracle always right, maybe you need to ask yourself if you’re playing it safe….

Share what you learned – that’s where the value is

If you created the conditions for positive failure, then it’s time to celebrate the learnings – because whether the test was a success or a failure, you now know something you didn’t before that can inform your future strategy – let everyone know about it

Don’t make the same mistake twice

You get to fail at something once, but the point is to learn. Make sure you do, and take those learnings into how you operate in future. Don’t fail at the same thing twice

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