Here for the fails

Who’s still rocking that ‘new year, new me’ energy??

And who is in the ‘how am I this far behind 2 weeks into the year and when is my next vacation?’ camp?

On the personal side, I’m more the latter. Like many of you, we did all the things - family, travel, flu - it was chaotic, fun and nothing felt as good as school starting back-up!?

As a team, we’ve been working furiously to scope out events for 2024 and dig really deep into themes. Specifically, (a) what areas of focus are we already hearing from organizations, (b) what challenges might arise this year that people aren’t planning for, and (c) what new programs will drive the most value. On this stuff we’re soundly in the first camp - almost too excited about what’s coming! I’m happy to chat more on any of this, so reach out if you’d like to dig in.?

For today, I’m going to spare you the very trendy ‘In & Out list’ (because I didn’t do one). Instead, we’re jumping right into the good stuff.??

How are we all going to fail over the next few months? Why aren’t we going to hit our goals? What’s going to get in our way??

When you lay-out a vision board, write down your goals, or map out your strategy for the year, how often are you pausing to ask ‘why won’t this happen?’

Not often enough.?

One of our favorite exercises is something called a pre-mortem. Now’s a great time to try it. While everyone is full of new ambitions and goals that feel fully achievable, take a minute and think ‘what’s going to stop any of this from happening?’.?

Here’s a simple approach. Take one goal - personal or professional - and ask yourself:?

If we’re sitting here in January 2025:

• How do we know if the goal is achieved?
• What made the goal fail?
• What made the goal succeed?

Write them down. Brainstorm. Get input from others. If you can truly think through the (many) reasons how & why you’ll fail, you might actually have a shot at achieving that goal. Too often we set a goal and map a course without really thinking about what can or will get in the way.?

What’s going to get in your way this year??

Sometimes that’s an obvious answer, other times it forces us to think through learnings from other goals/projects. What worked well that we can’t use again? What caused us to fail that we know we can avoid??

As we charge into ‘24, I want to hear from you. What’s top of mind right now? What are the top 3 things you want to accomplish? The things you’re openly sharing, talking about, and strategizing for. And what’s boiling under the surface and sticking in the back of your mind? The thing you don’t have a plan for but is maybe the bigger deal - the one that’s keeping you up at night?

Map out your pre-mortem. Put those questions in the center of a piece of paper and start writing words around it (screenshot below). Send me a picture!? What are the obstacles you can already see on the path ahead, and how can we help each other avoid or conquer them??

People love to tell you to talk more about failure - and we should!? - but there’s a real benefit to talking about the near misses. Planning out our future failure just might hold the key to success.?

Happy 2024 all - I’m looking forward to hearing about all the reasons we’re going to fail this year.?

Invites:?

• Hey Miami friends! CHRO/CPO Summit Miami: we’re kicking off our Unconference roadshow in Miami at the end of February. If you’re in/near the 305 and want to attend, let us know! [email protected]?
• ERG Roundtable is back! Register here?
• Kick-off event! Employee Experience Roundtable: Register here?

What we’re reading:?

• The new rules of executive presence?
• 2024 forward look: leaping into a big year
• Industry leaders forecast 2024 HR trends?
• Executives say they’re still committed to DEI?
• The outsized benefits of “minimalist” leadership?
• Engagement and the employee experience in 2023
• DEI is under attack. Here’s how to mitigate the legal risks
• Who gets promoted to the C-Suite - and how that’s changed