Your professional success will likely be not be based on your talent but rather on your ability to bounce back after failure. It’s not fun to talk about failure but those moments, when things didn’t work out, can provide valuable lessons.
We tend to look at successful people and not realize that in order become really good, you have to make your share of mistakes or experience some disappointment.
Sometimes, success is a product of luck, which can make it difficult to duplicate. Failure can offer a clearer picture of reality. While you don’t get a blue ribbon when things turn out poorly, you have the chance to evaluate and improve. Consider these steps to bouncing back from falling professionally.
What went wrong?
Step back and review what happened. Were there things that were out of your control or did you suffer from a lack of preparation?
Professional failure is not like a gruesome car wreck. It makes sense to go back and look at the wreckage.
What can be improved?
Too often, a failure leads to an entire process being thrown out, when all that it may require is some tinkering. Treat a disappointment like a flight simulator, where your next attempt will be better.
What could you teach?
What could you teach someone about your failure? Usually, if you know enough about something that you can teach someone about it, then you’ve mastered the concept.
It’s also good to maintain shared knowledge within an organization. Usually this is about things that go well or best practices. Might it not be wise to discuss what went wrong, so future employees don’t make the same mistakes?
Revisit in one year
Celebrate the one year anniversary of your failure with a reexamination. I know this doesn’t seem like much fun but 365 days may change your perspective on the situation. Emotions run high when memories are fresh and they can obscure clear thinking.
Though the whole process, keep in mind that the harder a ball falls to the ground, the higher it will bounce up.
