Learn from Failure by Using the Process of Asking ‘One Thing’ Questions
A few days ago I made the point that most people don’t learn from failure. Although it’s common to spin failure as being a great teacher, the truth is failure is only a great teacher if you’re a great learner. This requires being intentional about your process for learning from failure.
So, if you don’t currently have an intentional process in place to learn from failure, I suggest you start by using simple “one thing” questions. The purpose of a “one thing” question is to make it easy to reflect on the root causes of failure and then do something intentional about it.
My recommendation is to start with these three basic questions:
- What one thing can I start doing differently based on learning from someone else related to this failure? (For example, a peer success story, opponent, judge, coaching feedback, etc.)
- What one thing can I practice over and over again that will prevent a failure like this in the future?
- What one thing can I do to track my improvement, so I know I am better next time?