Managing for Failure

Oh no! Your team is doing a fabulous job. You never have to have difficult conversations, everyone is getting their work done to a high standard and on time. The higher ups are super happy with you. No one on your team has failed in longer than you can remember! How could you let this happen and what can you do to fix it?

Failure is an important part of growing your team - both the individuals on it and the cohesiveness of the whole. Without it creative problem solving can stagnate, learning slows to a crawl, and the work you get done is less than it could have been.

We’ll dive in to strategies for helping your team (including you!) feel comfortable with failure, as well as strategies for keeping YOUR boss happy when it happens. We’ll also explore low-stakes ways to introduce failure into your team, so you’re not taking down prod to prove a point.

Transcript

1. MANAGING FOR FAILURE anorris@dimin.com @amynorris.bsky.social linkedin.com/in/norrisamy
2. Gold 
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3. (THERE WILL BE SWEAR WORDS) #@*&!!
4. ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
5. (AND IF I SAY ANYTHING EXCLUSIONARY PLEASE CALL ME OUT) CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE
6. Developer since 2017 ABOUT ME
7. Developer since 2017 Degree in Studio Art ABOUT ME
8. Developer since 2017 Degree in Studio Art First job at National Land Realty ABOUT ME
9. Developer since 2017 Degree in Studio Art First job at National Land Realty Now works at Dimensional Innovations ABOUT ME
10. STORY TIME
12. Photo by Edwin Hooper on Unsplash
14. COMIC BY SIMKAYE
15. Illustration by Public domain vectors on Unsplash
16. ARE YOU SURE? WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
17. How did this happen in the f irst place? Who’s fault is this? What else did they get into? THINGS THAT ARE NOT THE PROBLEM
18. Photo by Saher Suthriwala on Unsplash
19. Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
20. WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT
21. Street cred WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT
22. Street cred Practice! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT
23. Street cred Practice! Failure is the boss monster of success WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT
24. WHAT DOES FAILURE MEAN?
25. – MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY “A LACK OF SUCCESS” Failure (noun):
26. – ME “AN EMOTIONALLY UPSETTING LEARNING EXPERIENCE” Failure (noun):
27. WHY DO YOU WANT FAILURE?
28. THE FAIL SCALE 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
30. Photo by Stephen Radford on Unsplash
31. Photo by Sebastian Huxley on Unsplash
32. Slow to learn, or averse to it entirely Creative stagnation Panic when faced with di ff icult problems HIDDEN RISKS OF PERFECT TEAMS
33. TO FAIL (and like it)
34. HOW YOU (PERSONALLY) CAN FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE FAILING
35. Photo by Calle Macarone on Unsplash
36. – ME “AN EMOTIONALLY UPSETTING LEARNING EXPERIENCE” Failure (noun):
37. Photo by Joseph Frank on Unsplash
38. COMIC BY KARINA FAREK
39. Photo by Pierre Bamin on Unsplash
43. STEP 1: STEP 2: Get really comfortable with failure Dig deep for lessons
44. HOW TO ENCOURAGE YOUR TEAM TO BE MORE COMFORTABLE FAILING
46. Photo by Tudor Baciu on Unsplash
47. “AN OBLIGATION OR WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY OR TO ACCOUNT FOR ONE'S ACTIONS” Accountability (noun): – MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY
48. FIRE DRILLS
49. Photo by iSawRed on Unsplash
50. WHAT NOT TO DO
51. Punish behaviors you want to see DON’T:
52. Punish behaviors you want to see Lose your cool DON’T:
53. Punish behaviors you want to see Lose your cool Push people too hard DON’T:
54. HOW TO KEEP YOUR BOSS HAPPY THROUGH INTENTIONAL FAILURE
55. OPTION 1: OPTION 2: Convince them Don’t
56. Less downtime == higher productivity Problems solved faster == higher customer satisfaction More cohesive team BENEFITS RECAP:
57. — ME “DO WHATEVER YOU WANT UNTIL SOMEONE YELLS AT YOU ABOUT IT”
58. 0 25 50 75 100 How Comfortable You Are With Failing How Awesome You Are
59. LOW STAKES WAYS TO INTRODUCE FAILURE
61. Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
62. REMEMBER: PEOPLE DON’T KNOW HOW TO FAIL
63. THIRTY FIFTEEN FAIL Minutes of doing something else Minutes of making no progress Get some fresh eyes
65. OVER-COMMUNICATE
66. Positive feedback OVER-COMMUNICATE
67. Positive feedback Negative feedback OVER-COMMUNICATE
68. Positive feedback Negative feedback Expectations OVER-COMMUNICATE
69. Positive feedback Negative feedback Expectations Changes to plans OVER-COMMUNICATE
70. Positive feedback Negative feedback Expectations Changes to plans Questions OVER-COMMUNICATE
74. — YOUR BOSS, WHO IS DEFINITELY ABOUT TO FIRE YOU “CAN I TALK TO YOU FOR A MINUTE?”
75. — YOUR BOSS, WHO IS PROBABLY NOT ABOUT TO FIRE YOU “[ LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE ]”
76. OVERT POSITIVITY
77. – ME, CONSTANTLY AND WITHOUT IRONY “GOOD JOB, ME!”
78. REMEMBER YOU’RE A TRASH CAN NOT A TRASH CAN’T Illustration by Ahmed Hossam on Unsplash
79. QUESTIONS? anorris@dimin.com @amynorris.bsky.social linkedin.com/in/norrisamy