The Project Book

CHAPTER 73 CELEBRATE GOOD (AND BAD) TIMES

‘Celebrate every success,’ urges physician and philosopher Debasish Mridha, ‘but don’t forget to enjoy those scars of failure.’

Ah, the scars of failure. Every great project I managed and sponsored was influenced by the scars I’ve gained through failure, whether on a personal level, a project level or an organisational level.

I’m not talking about catastrophic career-threatening events, but rather those little things that over the years I have got wrong — and of course as a human being I’m still always learning. The failures will never end, but I can see them for what they are, celebrate the new knowledge I have and move on quickly.

As a profession we carry many scars when it comes to failure, but in many cases we’re just not learning the lessons of the past and we continue to make the same mistakes. Too often this happens because the organisation (or individual) doesn’t bring the reason for failure out into the open, admit what’s happened and why, and set about creating the kind of environment where those mistakes aren’t repeated. Instead, excuses are made, fingers are pointed then it’s all swept under the carpet.

Failure is an opportunity for learning and should be embraced and celebrated in the same way that success is. At one organisation I worked for we even held morning teas for the projects we killed early. We did this for three reasons:

1. to acknowledge and show our gratitude for the efforts of the team in getting us to that point ...