From experience, one comes to the conviction that success is in some danger when it appears too early; by repeated, we also know that one has to learn from failures, although it is not always done; by inference, the sooner we fail, the sooner we will be successful: says David Kelley, and Tom Peters joins the idea; recognized as such, it is also known that intuition is behind not a few spectacular successes… Perhaps we usually move in a gray area, but surely we have all savored successes and failures, although we speak more about the former than the latter.
One would say that success consists in the achievement of unquestionably favorable results, which are received with satisfaction and even euphoria; So, if you agree, it occurs when we reach for something, big or small, that we had set our heads and hearts on, if not something else. In other words, success supposes that we had taken on a challenge and had committed ourselves (before ourselves or before others) to overcome difficulties. To speak of success, we put an emotional coating on effectiveness. However, it is also possible that some initiative for which our expectations were discreet, ends up being a success: an unexpected success. So one could speak of great and small successes, but also of expected (or pursued) and unexpected (or surprising) successes, without excluding other divisions.
On the other hand, we can admit that there are "failed attempts" to succeed, and even use the expression as a euphemism for failure; But you have to start by recognizing them: failures exist as such, and may have their origin in some miscalculation. Once digested and analyzed, they are not worth dwelling on long, but they should have a place in our archive. At the same time, success, always welcomed by the protagonists, can catch us eager to achieve it, and that could blur its dimension and make digestion difficult; we should savor it to the extent that we feel responsible or contributory, but without reaching complacency, that is, with sufficient maturity. It is one thing to be happy about a success, collective or individual, and another to feel proud of it to the point of unreasonablearrogance, unseemly excess of self-esteem, etc.). But, to qualify the result obtained, it is also necessary to compare it with the expected one.
Naturally, setting goals of a certain dimension requires some power, and this is a key element. If, for example, you wanted to prevent someone from achieving success, disavowing them would be a means; if, on the other hand, you wanted to promote the success of a manager, you could place her above effective workers who lacked power. If you lack power, you have to work hard to get some recognition; If, on the other hand, he has power, he can choose between pursuing success by contributing decisively to it, or being prepared to claim the collective in due course. There are people who do not have a thirst for power but a desire for fulfillment; but there are also great insatiable, anxious, thirsty for power.
Some managers - perhaps the majority - pursue him to do great things, although not all of them achieve them; but perhaps some others, involved in the politics of large organizations, pursue power simply to have it, that is, for their benefit. Here we are going to refer, above all, to the approach and achievement (or not) of professionally attractive goals of a collective nature. Without talking about great purposes, or more or less negentropic vital issues (which should be had, to have something important to pursue in life), here we can refer to the achievement of results in a project, an initiative, an annual exercise, a deal…; in short, to stimulating professional challenges in the short / medium term. To the most everyday.
Often, our expectations are too ambitious, and then reality is simply discreet, and even somewhat frustrating: then we cannot properly speak of success or failure. However, sometimes there are unequivocal good results, perhaps better than expected, and we are facing a solid success to savor: congratulations. What follows is to digest it, and prepare for others. It also happens that we can fall significantly below expectations, and then the most frequent thing is to look for an external cause; because, if success is difficult to digest, it is no less difficult to assume and digest failure. But, for now, let's say that failure occurs when the results are clearly adverse and, by the way, put our resistance to adversity to the test, or invite us to modify our strategy or tactics.
We are talking about feelings or emotions, since success or failure is "felt" by people and is related to the challenge they faced; But the fact is that the company seems to see successes that are not so successful, and failures that seem obvious are stopped. I am, in short and in general, in favor of a systemic or extrapersonal conception, rather than an intrapersonal one, when we talk about these concepts in the field of the company (unless the challenges or challenges are intimate), because I am also in the referred to professional efficiency. However, the reader already knows that he can, and must, disagree: my reflections try to encourage his on this subject.
Unexpected successes
Before I forget the unexpected, I want to say something about it. A manager pursues certain successes and achieves them (or not); but he also does, for example, rehearsals. I do not mean to write essays or articles for magazines (although also), but to try new methods, test a collaborator, introduce changes in the products or services, etc. In these cases, the results may be insignificant, somewhat encouraging, or very favorable; perhaps favorable far above expectations, that is, a complete success: an unexpected success. Sony's Walkman was, apparently after a stroke of intuition from Masaru Ibuka, now practically retired and against the judgment of its engineers. Ibuka, and perhaps his partner, the also legendary Akio Morita, hoped it would sell,but not to the extreme of multiplication of sales that occurred. This seems like a classic example related to the role of intuition in innovation, but I would not want to leave this article.
I just wanted to remember that sometimes we come across a success we weren't looking for, as if it were a gift from fate. Let's not just think about big things: let's also think about small everyday things, and let's savor them. If an unpretentious effort generates happy results, one might initially think that, with more focused efforts, we can achieve more important achievements (always within our possibilities, that is, without losing awareness of our limitations).
Assumption of challenges
The best thing is to propose something that, in addition to being stimulating, is possible under normal conditions, with the necessary resources, and a measured effort; But it is already known that sometimes we have to make commitments a little blindly, trusting that we will have the resources and that things will progress favorably. We can also be somewhat pessimistic, from the beginning; We will have to talk about optimism and pessimism, but, with regard to the challenges, let's say that there are "own" and there are also "received." In this regard, let us remember the annual formulation of objectives, or directly the tasks that, in the end, the boss passes us. In theory, annual goals should be as ambitious as they are achievable, but in tough times, one often feels pressured to formulate. However,one can "receive" a challenge and take it on as one's own.
I have, like you, diverse experiences, and I have seen the system of management by objectives be repeatedly adulterated: for example, the imposition of some that did not depend on individuals, and then make disproportionate reference to their non-achievement in the annual evaluation. I insist on submitting to the reader that we can all claim success or failure to the extent that we have assumed the challenges as our own, and with the necessary means. Also, for those who are thinking of something of greater volume than the brief achievement of annual objectives, I can speak, for example, of a very ambitious growth expectation for a company two years from now, so that then real sales stayed in a modest fifth (20%) of what was expected and boldly announced to the media.(This is the case of the consulting firm FYCSA, chaired by Miguel Canalejo, also president, by the way, of other companies with a brilliant trajectory, such as Cosecheros Abastecedores, whose credit includes the disappearance of Standard Eléctrica, in the Telecommunication sector). In such cases, one could speak of a clamorous puncture, both in the results and in the definition of the challenge itself; pay attention, therefore, to what we propose: it should be as stimulating as it is achievable, as optimistic as it is realistic, and we do not need to announce it in press releases, or celebrate it in advance.in the Telecommunication sector). In such cases, one could speak of a clamorous puncture, both in the results and in the definition of the challenge itself; pay attention, therefore, to what we propose: it should be as stimulating as it is achievable, as optimistic as it is realistic, and we do not need to announce it in press releases, or celebrate it in advance.in the Telecommunication sector). In such cases, one could speak of a clamorous puncture, both in the results and in the definition of the challenge itself; pay attention, therefore, to what we propose: it should be as stimulating as it is achievable, as optimistic as it is realistic, and we do not need to announce it in press releases, or celebrate it in advance.
If one has to answer for failures -or successes-, the challenge or objective should be properly defined, which includes the distribution, where appropriate, of responsibilities and contributions. When we talk about a collective work, the commitment should be too, but this depends, at least, on the functional organization of the company and the management style. However, not everyone experiences their challenges with the same intensity - sometimes their attention to the task itself reduces the intensity of the feeling of challenge - and this does not stop turning good results into successes and bad results into failures., both object of analysis. You may have other experiences, but I have frequently seen managers take responsibility for successes, and avoid them for failures.The market, the economic crisis, specific people, clients, politicians, the organization, the changes in progress have been held responsible for these… It would seem, I sometimes think, that a manager, by definition, is infallible, and cannot be held responsible for failures; but it's not like that.
It will sound digressive, but I have the managers of large companies in mind because it is what I know best. In large companies and together with commercial, production or engineering directors, there is room for managers that we can hardly imagine in small companies: quality director, director of external relations, organization director, human resources director, director of training (or development), director of internal communications, director of maintenance, director of general services, director of purchasing, director of planning, etc. What I mean is that, sometimes, the successes of these managers (those of support functions, or whatever they are called in each case) are difficult for the rest of the organization to understand (either because they are not well explained, or be it because someone, in some case,difficult to explain). These are unquestionably necessary functions (even carried out with great professionalism), but whose hierarchical dignity can surprise the most direct staff, and whose objectives are sometimes seen or experienced as useless or obstructive.
To illustrate this, I could give you examples related to cost reduction or cultural change. When it comes to cost reduction assigned to a purchasing manager, I believe that success can easily be assured by sacrificing quality; but I fear that other areas of the organization would be seriously affected. I have heard stories unheard of, but perhaps the reader has also, and we don't have to recreate ourselves by recreating them.
Now I will turn to a book that I read. Training executives spoke of the success of e-learning, after introducing this learning modality in their companies, perhaps to partially replace the traditional classroom courses of the so-called continuous training. The word "success" was so frequent in that book (2003), that they were used (or so it seemed to me) also synonyms ("triumph"), so as not to abuse. But it turns out that a later study came to say that the majority of e-learning users believed that this method was contributing little, or nothing, to the improvement of professional performance. What success were the training managers referring to then? In fact, it is already beginning (2004) to talk about the failure of e-learning, and some providers blame their own clients for them.
In short, it seems sad that, after making the effort to achieve success, it turns out that it only makes those who proclaim it happy, leaving others indifferent or outraged. In other words, we take on worthwhile challenges, and that contribute to the prosperity of the organization…, or let's wait until we are sure of victory before singing the opening. And let's sing the palinodia, if that's the case.
Optimism in goals
Pessimism within the company is not good, as is no other negative emotion; but we also have to be careful with optimism. It seems that optimists are happier and live longer, but, being this very important, now we refer to goal setting and taking on professional challenges. Optimism is useless without realism, and the truth is that pessimists, unpopular as they are, often appear to be more realistic. It is appropriate to reproduce here a paragraph from Authentic Happiness, by Martin Seligman, father of the Positive Psychology Movement:
“Happy individuals (read the book, but, from the context, I think it refers to optimistic people, since Seligman relates optimism and happiness very closely) are unbalanced in their beliefs about success and failure: if they were successful, they consider that the credit is theirs, that it will last and that they are good at everything; if they had a failure, they attribute the blame to others, and consider that it was fleeting and inconsequential. Depressive people (here it seems to refer to sad or pessimistic people), on the contrary, are equanimous in assessing success and failure ”.
In short, it seems that optimism can blind us a bit; But it has many good things, as Daniel Goleman also reminds us: perseverance, resistance to obstacles and uplifting performance from the perspective of success, and not from the fear of failure. Sure, you might think that we stop bagpipes, and just be realistic, on our way to success. Yes but no; it is not easy at all to be realistic. Full reality is unattainable for us; our vision of it is always partial, and even the part we see is blurred by our mental models. One is typically carried away by one of two streams: the favorable and the unfavorable. Although the arguments that accompany a forecast seem solid and disinterested, we may be moving our optimism or pessimism. On the other hand,When facing a project or a business, intuition can also guide us: we will also talk about it, if the reader follows us.
We are talking now about optimism, because success or failure depends on many things, but also on the magnitude of the challenge itself. The optimist tends to think of achievements that sometimes seem more like dreams, and the pessimist does not. Why, however, do we bet on optimism in the company? Perhaps because we trust that commitment, responsibility, experience or the organization itself, provide the necessary dose of realism. And above all because pessimism immobilizes us a bit.
Pessimism
If there is room for optimism, there is also room for pessimism. Perhaps the worst pessimism is that of the downers or negatives. In your endeavor to always and only see the dark side of things, the negatives or downers, with their usual catastrophizing, could undermine the uplifting feelings of others. It is good to always analyze the pros and cons, but the negatives only seem to see inconveniences and undesirable consequences. The root of his pessimism may have to be found in some frustration, but this attitude can be reduced, perhaps through patient Socratic dialogue. However, in an ideal combination, I would sometimes put a downer - although I would prefer a devil's advocate - for each group of optimists, taking care that they are not marginalized.
It would seem that the best possible reaction would be to ignore the downers, that is, for their messages to enter us through one ear and leave us through the other; but, while we have patience, we should evaluate their arguments. It should not be ruled out that they are ever correct in their bad omens. It is desirable that all people be constructive and positive, while still seeing the difficulties and drawbacks. It seems proven that it is more effective from the expectation of success than from the obsession with failure, but caution - the awareness that something may exist even if we do not see it - is not over, and many unfortunate initiatives were developed in the absence of someone who was more sensitive to problems that could arise, and helped to prevent them.
The intuition
We have mentioned, in passing, intuition, because it is behind many successes and failures. If she is genuine, and with reservations I would argue that it leads us to success; if false, because all that glitters is not intuition, it would typically lead us to failure. Beware of supposedly visionary managers, as some author reminds us. At a time when we always lack data to analyze, it seems inevitable that we make decisions, strategic or tactical, driven by internal impulses; In reality, and forgetting the cases of spurious interests, what we do, and so we are advised, is to reconcile, as far as possible, intuition and reason. Great successful innovations were produced with the all-important help of intuition, in some of its various manifestations. Of course,believing that it is relatively easy to identify as intuitions some that are, and as not intuitions other signs that clearly are not, I still have an intermediate zone in which it is difficult to be sure; But even in the face of a genuine intuition, it remains the subject of interpreting it well.
(I had the audacity, if not insolence, to write an article on intuition a little over a year ago, and I sent it to former colleagues in case they thought it appropriate to address the subject in a workshop for managers; I did not get an answer until months later, when They congratulated me on seeing the work published in the magazine Direction y Progreso, of the Association for the Progress of Management, and in Training & Development Digest. The article later also interested some prestigious Web portals, and the feedbackthat I then began to receive gave me satisfaction and a certain compunction. Obviously, I was beyond the expectation that the subject aroused, and I believed that readers deserved more: I still feel somewhat morally obliged to delve into the subject and be able to recommend some books. I got to exchange an email with the prestigious Dr. Francis Vaughan, to locate her book Awakening intuition in Spanish; I do not have it yet, but I will continue to advance my intuition, surely relating it to decision-making. The fact is that there seems to be high interest in this kind of jewel in the crown of intelligence.)
My impression is that intuition deserves to be seriously addressed in the training of managers, and I know that, beyond workshops combined with incentive tourism, some business school is already doing it. I am telling you all this because, as I anticipated, I believe that genuine intuition points to success, and that false intuition is generating not a few failures. I, the further I advance on the subject, the further I see the end, but I dream of designing a workshop about it because our life, both personal and professional, is nourished by genuine intuition to a greater degree than it seems, and also misled by false intuition to a greater degree than it seems.
Analysis of results
Between taking on each professional challenge and achieving results, there is a lot of work, a lot of emotions and a lot of feelings; we skip them and go to results. Beware of Pyrrhic successes, successes at all costs, false successes or successes with large debts incurred… In general, beware of successes.
The lure of success can lead us to desperate maneuvers that we cannot hide for long. If, in an organization, our possible successes did not contribute to the community, there would be no need, but there are always, certainly, those who subordinate the collective good to their own. This phenomenon has been fostering with management by objectives, whose frequent adulteration we have already commented on, but it occurs with or without DPO.
Even when success is unquestionable and responds to the effort dedicated by people, there may be a conjunction of benign factors, or bene-factors. Here success can be legitimately allied with good luck, and this reminds us of the famous book -La Buena Suerte- by Rovira and Trías de Bes. Although we are referring in this article to specific projects, it does not hurt to be somewhat proactive in promoting and taking advantage of favorable winds and wills; neglecting these elements could turn probable successes into visible failures. This book, without being a weighty book in the management literature, has been an unquestionable success, which is explained precisely by the principles it postulates.
Catalysts for success
I would say that there are projects doomed to success (and others to failure); but, as we have suggested, in most cases the favorable outcome depends, in general, on wisely applied efforts and, often, on favorable elements that we have also been able to take advantage of. Does this mean that success is predictable? Well, I think it is for a good observer; I think we can say of one subject, or of a team, that their efforts will be rewarded, and of another, subject or team, that they will not see success materialized. In the latter case, the usual thing is that we keep silence and, formally, we wish luck: usually, however, the hidden message is not received.
And who can be predicted for success? Well, this has already been said by many experts, for example, when talking about talent or skills. It is known and admitted (although it seems that not much is done about it) that, in addition to some important cognitive competencies (analytical, conceptual, systemic thinking…), emotional intelligence has a lot to do with the success of managers. Surely, within the dimensions of emotional intelligence, we would highlight self-knowledge, self-confidence, the desire to achieve, initiative, responsibility, resistance to adversity, empathy, organizational awareness, team spirit… But be careful: we are assuming professional knowledge, expertise, expertise and experience.
However, I would like here, speaking of the catalysis of success, to draw attention to the very essence and significance of the result we intend to achieve. For example, I believe that the more people benefit from the desired results, the easier it will be to achieve them, and I am not just referring, however obvious, to the people who work on the project. I include, of course, the win-win principle in relationships with customers, suppliers, partners, etc., but I aim for greater significance: a better society. I suspect that an initiative that is oriented towards a better environment is more likely to be successful than one that prioritizes the private good over the common good, nurtures injustice, opts for corruption…, but I don't know if I can explain why. Maybe because, if we go to Loevinger,Kohlberg and other developmental psychologists, then we link this one with the best achievements, and we also do some deductive stunts, we come to the conclusion. More convincingly, it would suggest that success must, in principle, accompany the most developed, and that these are already in the stage of the common good, in the development of others and in the broadest win-win. The recent concern about what is being called "corporate social responsibility" should not be a coincidence…The recent concern about what is being called "corporate social responsibility" should not be a coincidence…The recent concern about what is being called "corporate social responsibility" should not be a coincidence…
Do you believe - still in prediction and perhaps also in preaching - that a narcissistic manager is a successful manager? Perhaps you had a success, then you became narcissistic, and you no longer knew new successes or recognized failures. Do you not think that a manager of his own success at all costs and fleeing forward, exhausted his credit and lacking other resources, has to leave the organization, whether or not he is invited to do so? Don't you think that the pursuit of the common good revitalizes us almost miraculously? Don't you think that an entrepreneur who pursues the growth of all his collaborators and the satisfaction of all his clients will find favorable winds? Will you not encounter frequent obstacles if you pursue your only good? Yes: I was rehearsing as a preacher… Who knows.
From the outset and speaking of contributions to society, one could discuss good and evil, but let's leave it to a universal, ubiquitous, eternal principle: do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you; I think that from here you already get a sufficient idea of good and evil, and of the better environment. But I often think that the best thing about success is being able to savor it, as the best thing about sex is being able to savor it, like the best thing about a good wine is being able to savor it, how the best thing about traveling is being able to savor it, how the best thing about knowing is to be able to savor it and how the best of gastronomy is to be able to savor it; and here I have to add that the best flavor is produced accompanied… or not? Isn't it more rewarding a result that makes others happy, and is remembered as exemplary? I insist:not to confuse motivational savoring with paralyzing complacency, and this would lead to the digestion of successes.
Success digestion
There are digestions so bad that one would prefer not to have had the feast; but, for the subject himself, vanity or narcissism are not as perceptible as a heaviness of the stomach or a headache. The poor digestion of a success can lead to minor disorders (conceit, complacency, boasting, excessiveness…), or greater such as the belief that everything is within our reach, or fatal narcissism. As I already have to thank the publication, in more than one Internet portal, of an article of mine on narcissistic managers, I will not insist here on this serious disorder of the person, more difficult to cure than anorexia (although I find similarities in the treatment: awareness of the disorder, reeducation…). As instructive, and always within the world of big business, I would also speak of the digestion of the success of others:If an individual were to have a success that would have belonged to higher hierarchical levels, or to colleagues in another department, he could make some undeclared enemies. It is already known that, in the company, the cardinal virtues do not usually shine more than the capital sins.
Let's go to the good digestion of success: a healthy reflection that prepares us for new achievements. This is my synonym for the digestion of success (or failure): reflection. For something later, I would leave the more detailed analysis, without forgetting the later synthesis. I believe that we lack reflective thinking, analytical thinking and synthetic thinking; I think, already put, that we also lack systemic thinking, to better understand what is happening. So there are several cognitive skills that we should put to work more frequently, and especially when studying, cold, successes and failures.
If you have a hit, and still hot, taste it; in temperate, reflect; cold start your analytical and systems thinking; and finish formulating conclusions, after the corresponding synthesis. In the end, you must be clear about what the success (or, in your case, failure) has been due to. If it has been due to the effort - perhaps an extra effort - applied, you may feel satisfied, but you may also wonder why an extraordinary effort was needed, in your case. If it was due to favors from Providence, make sure you can get it next time, even without favors from Providence. If it was due to someone else's unforeseen effort, acknowledge it. If it has occurred despite unexpected adverse conditions, try to wait for it - prevent it - next time… This goes without saying, but please be lenient with me:one begins to write and runs wild… (The truth is that I am thinking that no reader will get here: this is turning out to be very flat and very extensive…).
Ultimately, you have to materialize the learning that comes from success (or failure), and be aware that success can predict, but does not guarantee, similar results in the next attempt. And, of course, even if we are good at something, perhaps because we have "talent," we can be sure, absolutely sure, that we are not good at everything. It seems like another truism, but it must be said. The reader will be innocent, but there are, we know, guilty of claiming non-proven abilities.
I didn't feel like talking about the digestion of failure because the best thing is not to do it; But if you fail at something, look to see if it was a cheating project that they had gotten you into. It is not that it is frequent, but you are suspicious if, during a project, you are left alone in the face of danger, and there is a rush to make you, in the end, guilty of all the evils. Yes: there is a lot of unpunished evil in organizations. And if the failure is yours - yours - don't be depressed, but assume your responsibility in a tone closer to compunction than haughtiness, without waiting long: it seems that this works. Well… you see.
Finished
Basically, I have already prepared the debate for you, and there are about 5,000 words; But, finally, I would say that this success and failure must necessarily remind us of success and error, because behind those there are usually right or wrong decisions. I don't know if it's also the other way around, but I suspect that someone who doesn't recognize mistakes doesn't recognize failures; but notice that I mean not recognizing them yourself. Whether they are publicly admitted or not, we must be aware of mistakes and failures, so as not to repeat them. This is why I got so heavy with the reflective, analytical and synthetic exercise, once the results were achieved. Normally, and I have to repeat it, we do not reflect well, because we accelerate the inferences and we have outdated mental models.
Congratulations to all of you for your successes and successes. Regarding the error, it is not always condemnable, but it is when it is not recognized and also causes harm to others. On the other hand and perhaps, it is better to make a mistake and realize it, than to make a hit and not know why. And, in a final reference to success, I would almost measure it based on the number of people it satisfies and the degree to which it does so… Well, you see that, in reality, you could continue talking about all this. I appreciate that, nodding or not, they got here: are they really there?
