'F' is for Failure, Feedback and Focus

Today's newsletter is about Failure, Feedback and Focus.?

We all fail. If we learn from our failures we will be more successful. Failure is an opportunity for feedback?- it can start a conversation, which if done well, identifies what needs to be done better. It is also an opportunity to focus. Focus on the things that will have the greatest impact on improvement, on performance. Without the failures we may never see the more effective way to do something so clearly.?

We are open recipients to feedback so please tell us what you think of the newsletter in the comments or get in touch.?

Failure

“Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently” Henry Ford

It was June 2009 in the depths of the last recession. Our very survival was at risk. We had lost ￡2m on a problem contract over 5 months - we then lost ￡1m in a single month.

We were failing and we had never failed before. If we were not able to turn things round we were going to go out of business. I was promoted to Deputy CEO - the CEO left a month later and we didn't replace him. It was the hardest period of my career, but i grew and learned so much.

The company had started in 2002 and for the next 7 years was incredibly successful. We had grown to ￡50m revenue, were very profitable and had a great reputation in our market. But looking back that success came easily. We were good, but we were also lucky. We benefitted from being in a growth sector during a period when the economy was strong.

That success had made us complacent, conceited, rigid, and slow to adapt. We had stopped learning and innovating. We thought we couldn't improve. For the first six months when we started losing money we didn't change what we did - we just kept delivering as we always had, hoping things would improve. They didn't. We kept failing and kept losing money.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill

The risk to our survival focused our minds. We started to question every aspect of our business and whether it was the best way to do things. Our operating model, our systems and processes, our management practices, our targets. We recognised we needed to change and do things differently. It was hard and it was stressful. But, we took action and we made difficult decisions. We trialled new ways of working and made fundamental changes to our operating model. We reduced our costs, but we also massively improved our performance.

That failure was the best thing that ever happened to us. Personally I learned more about business and leadership over that year, than I had in the previous seven. We improved every aspect of our business. That failure paved the way for our most successful period ever. Over the next three years we grew from ￡50m revenue to ￡120m, moved back to profit and were named as the 21st best employer in the country by the Sunday Times. ?

Feedback

I love feedback! I think it is a great tool to improve performance. Failure is a type of feedback. But feedback doesn't work for everyone. Feedback can be a negative thing if done badly. If it is more about the person giving the feedback wanting to make their point rather than wanting to assist you - feedback fails.

Every Friday I pose 'The Friday Question' on LinkedIn to gain insights from the LinkedIn community. Two weeks ago I asked about the value (or not) of feedback and received some great responses.

As Alastair James says, feedback given well can be a gift. but how do you give it well. Netflix has a strong culture of feedback and their '4A guidelines' is a great approach that covers both the role of the person giving feedback and the person receiving feedback.

Aim to assist (Giving Feedback): Positive intent (no jerks). Clearly explain how it will help them (not you).

Actionable (Giving Feedback): Focus on what the recipient can do differently

Appreciate (Receiving feedback): Receive the feedback with an open mind (rather than a defensive mindset)

Accept or discard (Receiving feedback): You are required to listen and consider but not to act on it.?It is the decision of the recipient as to whether they act on the feedback.

Focus

‘The centre of interest or activity’ (noun)

‘Pay particular attention to’ (verb)

In 2009 it took failing and losing ￡3m to really focus us on the necessity to do things differently. Feedback can bring something we weren't aware of into sharp focus. Targets are a means of focusing a business on its goals. Focus is essential for performance.

What is the opposite of focus? Distracted, inattentive, sidetracked, undecided, absentminded, diverted, uninterested, sidetracked.......

Sound familiar at all? It does to me! The modern world is full of distractions. At an individual level we are constantly distracted by emails, notifications, Whatsapp messages....

Our time and focus is taken up in back-to-back meetings where we have to constantly shift focus from one priority to another, often without the time to reflect on and act on what came before.

At a company level I see (and am guilty of it myself at times) too many projects and priorities at any one time. This stretches resources, dilutes focus, and makes it less likely that you will achieve your goals.

In the work I do with CEOs, leadership teams and supporting companies with their growth and performance I help them to prioritise and focus, and that leads to higher performance and success. Purpose is a wonderful tool that helps to provide focus. Clarity of purpose helps you to prioritise and focus.

How do you focus individually? How do you focus the resources and energy within your business or team? What tricks and tips do you use to manage the constant distractions? Share your thoughts below and if you enjoyed the newsletter please subscribe to receive future editions of the 'A - Z of Purpose Led Performance'