Learning from failure

FENET Charles-AntoineAbbas MohamedIvana Mikulecká

Arina NikozajevaKrzysztof Majewski

Introduction

Barriers to learning from failure

The process of organizational learning from

failure

Putting failure to work innovate and

improve

Conclusion

Summary

what’s a learning organization ? Is a firm that purposefully constructs ,

structures and strategies , to enhance and maximize organization learning (Dodgson 1993)

Introduction

Learning process

Learning structure

All four levels of learning must be

present to be a Learning Organization.

Types of learning organization

What’s learning from failure

Learn from failure is learn how to succeed

Barriers to Learning From Failure

Technical system

Social system

Barriers embedded in technical systems Individuals lack „know how“

Technologies are difficult for diagnose

Excess of work in process

Inability to understand

INTRAPSYCHICAL

self-esteem

self-image

Identity

motivation

INTERPERSONAL

INSTRUMENTAL

problems to understand

to avoid publicembarrassment

and private derision

work withoutfailures

stress

rewards,promotions,

raises…

Identifying failure

Analyzing failure

Deliberate experimentati

on

The process of Organizational Learning from

Failure

How to identifying failure

Proactive

Timely identification of mistakes

Find the Key failure

Which problem to identify failure

Social Barriers

• Tendency to deny

• Tendency to distort the reality of the

failure

• Cover the failure

• Solution: Publicize Failure

Which problem to identify failure

Organizational Barriers

• The accessibility of data to identify

failures

• Organizational leader must develop a

system to let the data available in

order to identify and learn from failure

The importance of internal and External Feedback system.

• Identify many types of failures.

• It’s a proactive way to identify

failures.

• Must be internal and external. (Only 5

to 10% of dissatisfied customers

complain.

How to identify failure

Proactive

Timely identification of mistakes

Find the Key failure

Create an environment which

encourage employees to

identify and reveal failures

Requirements to learn from failures

Analyse Failure

Thoughtful effective Analysis Discussion

US Army is known for conducting “After

Action Reviews”

Hospitals use conferences as a

forum

These vehicles only address substantive

failures

Meticulous and painstaking analysis that

goes into understanding

the crash of airliners

Analyse FailureSocial systems tend to discourage this

kind of analysis

Individuals experience negative

emotions when examining their own

failures

Conducting an analysis of a failure requires openness,

patience and a tolerance for

ambiguity

Psychologists verified that

individuals have biases and errors that reduce the accuracy, sense

making, estimation and attribution

Individuals tend to believe what they want to believe, denying responsibility for failures,

attributing the problem to others or the system

Analysis

• Observation a number of failed consulting relationships• The consultants blamed the failure to the client

Achievement

• Concluding that the client was not committed to change• Client was defensive or difficult

Conclusion

• Blaming the client is much more comfortable and efficient• Instead of rising questions which require profound and personal curiosity

Analyse FailureAnalysis prepared by Amy C.Edmondson, Harvard University, 2008

Analysis

• Observation failures in the form of customer defections• Customers who defected from particular bank gave “interest rates” as reason

Achievement

• It suggested that the bank´s interest rates were not competitive• Additional investigation demonstrated that there were no significant differences

Conclusion

• The bank´s marketing department needed to do a better job of screening in advance the customers to whom it promoted bank-provided credit cards

Analyse FailureAnalysis prepared by Frederick Reichheld, Company Partner, 2007

Screening, Analyzing, Discussing

Analyse FailureLearning value as a result from analyzing and discussing simple

mistakes

Conclusion

10 Years later

No analysisfailure

• Scientific discoveries as a result of simple mistakes in the lab

• Peter Drucker has left a Bunsen burner lit over the weekend

• A chemist in a polymer lab at Dupont made the same mistake

• Gave some analysis to the result, discovered that the fiber had congealed

• It was the first step toward the invention of nylon

• With similar attention the Germans might have had a decade start in nylon and could have dominated the market

Experimentation Organizations not only seek to identify and

analyze failures, they seek to generate them – for the purpose of learning and innovating

Through deliberate experimentation organizations can generate ◦ Novel solutions to problems◦ New ideas for products, services and

innovations

In this way, they put new idea to the test – in a controlled context

Experiment

• PSS/ World Medical created a “soft landing” policy

Description

• If an employee tries out a new position, but not succeed after a good faith effort, the employee can have his or her former job back

Conclusion

• This “soft landing” policy is an implicit recognition, that experiments have uncertain outcomes

• People will be more willing to experiment if the organization protects their interests.

ExperimentationExample: PSS/World Medical encourage employees to experiment with

career moves

Putting Failure to Work to Innovate and

Improve

Identifying

Analyzing

Experimentation

How to overcome technical barriers

Small failures are ambiguous

Training and

Technical expertise

Lack of skills and

techniques

Lack of knowledge

Training in skills and

techniques

Training in experimental design

How to overcome social barriers

Afraid of recognition of failures

Develop psychological

safety

Uneffective group

discussions

Punishing for failed

experiments

Develop forums and

skills of listening

Provide resources

and reward sistem

Identifying

Analyzing

Experimentation

How failure could be refraimed

Failure is avoided

Traditional frame

How failure could be refraimed

Learning oriented reframe

Failure is naturalLearn from

intelligent failure

Curiosity and

humor

What’s the value to organizations in creating

a learning from failure process ? the organization become more than the

sum of the parts of individual learning easier time adapting to any internal or

external change knowledge accumulation

Conclusion

Is learning from failure a choice or an obligation ?

What kind of barriers could be met in process of learning from failures?

QUIZZ

A/ Social & Technical B/ Social

C/ Technical

What is the process of Organizational Learning from Failure ?

QUIZZ

A/ Identify, analyze, experimentation

B/ Identify, deny and repeat

C/ Identify, analyze and repeat

How was our presentation?

QUIZZ

A/ Great

B/ Very good

C/ Excellent