Seek Value in Failure

Failure is not all bad. It can create knowledge from learning from it: what not to do, what to avoid, how to use the learning to move forward to the next step.

Failure can be bad, especially if it is avoidable and obvious. How can you learn and create value from this. Ask how this was avoidable, weed out bad people and processes, the decision making and actions so that such failure can be avoided in the future. Teach new generations of leaders this. Use failure as a learning tool and for improvement for creating a road to excellence and value.

Moreover, there are value creation teachings, such as companies saying this product is easy to use and understand, and then we find the user or the buyer has a problem with it. This is a failure that is fixable. Likewise, take the example of my going to a VW store to arrange for a test drive of a Taigun. Why did I go to the store? There was no telephone number for the store. The VW website for showrooms did not have it (a new store). I asked the salesman for a telephone number. He said I will send it to you with information via WhatsApp. No message came. These are all examples of failures that are avoidable, that companies can learn from and instead of destroying value can start to create value.

More than that there are failures in service and in keeping promises.

In her book “Right Kind of Wrong,” Dr. Edmondson provides the framework to think, discuss, and practice failure wisely. Outlining the three archetypes of failure – basic, complex, and intelligent – she describes how to minimize unproductive failure while maximizing what we gain from missteps at all levels.

Gautam Mahajan, President, Customer Value Foundation
Founder Editor, Journal of Creating Value jcv.sagepub.com
New Delhi 110065 +91 98100 60368
mahajan@customervaluefoundation.com
http://www.customervaluefoundation.com
Twitter @ValueCreationJ
Blogs: https://customervaluefoundation.wordpress.com/
Author of Value Creation, Total Customer Value Management, Customer Value Investment, How Creating Customer Value Makes you a Great Executive, The Value Imperative, Value Dominant Logic, Customer Value Starvation can Kill

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