Why You Should Share Your Failure Stories
๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ, ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐จ๐๐ญ๐๐ง ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ. ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ซ ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ?
Back when I was with Yayasan Hasanah, I had the opportunity to develop the Foundation's annual reports. Each year required me to scour the net for hours, researching concepts and themes for that year.
Out of all my findings, one annual report caught my eye and stayed with me. It was an antithesis of your typical annual report.
There were no success stories in this annual report. Only failed encounters, from the first page to the last.
The failure stories are diverse and colourful. Each page is a different story contributed by staff from various departments in the organisation. From the CEO to the ground staff, their failure stories were made public.
Readers from different experiences will easily find the stories relatable and possibly even trigger spine-chilling cold sweat flashbacks, reminding you of the time when things didnโt go as planned.
The type of failures in the report can be split into two types: personal and organisational failures. Personal failures may look like:
โ๏ธShouldering responsibilities alone and not asking for help
โ๏ธAssigning unclear responsibilities to team members for an upcoming event
โ๏ธBuilding company solutions and processes without considering the needs of the staff
Whereas organisational failures include:
โ๏ธEvolving a simple, straight-forward event into one that's overly ambitious
โ๏ธEmbarking on a project without consulting the beneficiaries and assuming their needs
โ๏ธThe Executive Team's over-expectations to deliver new projects leading to organisation budget cuts
Sound familiar?
Instead of hiding mistakes, the report acknowledged, embraced and openly discussed its flaws. It created a new and fresh narrative, shifting from "Hey, we have our sh*t together" to "Hey, we messed up too, and hereโs how we plan to fix it".
The goal is to normalise mistakes, learn from them and accept that they are often precursors to success. Each story concludes with learning lessons, where contributors reflect on what went wrong and what they could have done better as individuals and as an organisation.
The compiled mistakes provide key insights, akin to a data collection exercise on what went wrong and how to avoid them. This can be powerful for the sector to grow and evoke moments of "Hey, we made the same mistake too!" among organisations, accepting the reality that mistakes happen, and learn from one another.
So, would you consider producing your failure report? What do you think is stopping your organisation from producing one? Letโs talk!
