Ixnay on Martin Shkreli, man buns, force multipliers, sexual harassment and appraisal waivers.
Well, while I would be happy to leave all of that behind us in 2017 I suspect a few of those unmentionables will have a hangover effect, at least into the new year. Personally, I love this time of year. This is a great time to assess what we did right and what didn’t work so well. Dig deep. Some things might be abject failures.
I just finished reading Ray Dalio’s book, Principles. The timing was perfect since is this the time of year that is naturally predisposed to strategic planning. Here are some fundamental concepts Dalio proposes to help you cope with failures:
- View mistakes as opportunities to improve. He calls this “mistake-based learning.”
- Own your errors. Never hide them, but bring them forward to create a learning opportunity. His advice is to “fail well and fail quickly.”
- Pain + reflection = progress. The “pain of failure” should lead to reflection, from which your wisdom derives.
- Track what you do; keep systemizing what you learn from your mistakes.
This principles based code of conduct for personal life as well as business life will serve us all well. I am referencing businesses large and small. Survey your customers formally or informally. Do you adopt best practices for your business? Begin your new year by crafting a brief list of best practices applicable for your enterprise and when you are faced with a tough decision reference your code. It might just make those tough decisions a lot easier.
Learn, Network and Prosper in 2018.
