Those weren’t his exact words, but it was definitely something along those lines. A little over two weeks ago one of my teammates, who shall remain nameless for the sake of his reputation and ongoing career, let me know that we had a “little” problem.

Many of you know that my team and I have been working hard on producing a new video training course called, “7 Days to Becoming a Great Manager.” It’s been an enormous amount of work; way more than any of us expected.

There have been countless hours put in by a number of us and we were very close to having everything we needed to start putting the finishing touches on things so we could start our marketing efforts. It was very exciting.

And then…failure. Without going into any of the excruciatingly painful details, suffice it to say that we have been forced to go back to much-closer-to-square-one than any of us would have ever wanted. It’s hard to describe the letdown we all experienced.

Have you ever experienced failure? For those of you whose hands are not in the air, you can stop reading now because the rest of this will only bore you. For the rest of us who make up the human race, there is hope in the lines that remain in this post.

Let’s take a look at three simple questions that can transform failure into the kind of feedback that will move you forward.

A TIMELY WORD

A few months ago, I was listening to a podcast by Michael Hyatt and I heard this phrase that was not only catchy, but hope-filled. He made the statement that “failure isn’t final, it’s only feedback.”

I liked that. As a matter of fact, I liked that a lot. But, it’s easy to like things like that when they don’t apply to you. However, I had no idea how much it would apply to me only a few short months later.

So, for the benefit of my beloved team member, and the rest of you, here are some questions that will help us reframe the failure and put it into a more helpful perspective.

1. What have I learned from this situation? This is pretty basic, but it’s also powerful if you’ll give it some meaningful thought. You should ask this question from a few different angles.

First, and probably most intuitive, is to ask what you have learned overall from the situation. Just ask yourself this very broad, open-ended question and let your mind begin to process. If you are someone who prefers extraversion (from the MBTI), I would suggest you do this with a trusted friend so you can process verbally.

“What have I learned about myself from this situation?” It’s important that we look inside and learn about ourselves from our failures. Here are some more specific questions to help with this:

• What part of this failure do I personally need to own?
• How did it affect me mentally?
• What self-limiting beliefs have been fed by this experience?
• How did it affect me emotionally?
• How has it affected my relationships?

I would also encourage you to explore what this experience has taught you about your team, your processes and systems, your competition, and your industry/market?

2. What will I do differently going forward? I think this is an important question because it implies that you are going to go forward. Don’t let this failure keep you down. Be like Thomas Edison who said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Edison was also quoted as saying, “Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.”

So, take old Tom’s inspiration and your answers from the first question and chart the course forward. Be as specific as you can. And, take some forward steps as soon as possible. Don’t sit still.

3. What has this made possible? This is a super positive way to look at failure. It may feel phony at first, but hang in there with old Thomas Edison, and see what you can discover. Wait for it…

For instance, in our case, while this failure is still stinging, I have already been able to see some positive things emerging from it. I actually think the final product itself is going to be markedly better than the one we almost released.

In addition to that, with the extra time we’ve had to review everything, I feel like our marketing strategy and some of our support systems are going to be more effective. I’m sure as we move along we’ll identify other positives.

According to Jeff Goins, “Successful people and organizations don’t succeed despite failure. They succeed because of it.”

Give it some serious thought. Think about what possibilities exist now that didn’t before the failure. One of them may simply be your ability to have empathy towards others who experience failure. Another may be the opportunity to pursue a new career or avenue that will actually wind up being much more fulfilling.

If you don’t look for it, you’re much less likely to find it. If you allow the failure to overwhelm you, your missing out on its potential to move you forward stronger than ever.

FINAL WORD

My team and I have a lot of work ahead of us. But, that’s okay. We’re not defeated. We’re actually better prepared for what’s ahead. And you can be too.

Remember, failure is only final if you let it be. Otherwise, it’s just feedback. The choice is up to you.

Question: What have you learned from a recent failure?

Seize the day!