Learning from Success…

Some people suggest that we learn nothing from our successes. That the only path to the knowledge we seek is through our failures. Through failing, falling, and then trying again. I know. I was one of them.

That makes it hard to support the other side of that argument. Especially, when I’ve ostensibly learned lots more from my failures than from my successes over the years.

The question is why? And whose fault is that?

Is there something intrinsic in failure that inherently offers pause for reflection? Something built into failure that subliminally precipitates growth? Does that mysteriously or magically foster renewed competence? Is that magic absent from success? Or is it just another failure? Our failure to see it.

There is more sad poetry than joyous prose. Why? Because people want to share their pain as if that would somehow diminish it. When you’re happy you’re too busy being happy to stop for anything! But what if you did… Stop that is. What if you carved out a few minutes to determine the origin of that happiness? Especially if that happiness is the product of success.

What are we missing when we fail to do that? How about an opportunity to learn from what may have worked so that we might create even more success? Or, perhaps, at the very least, fewer failures.

What kind of accelerant would that be? How much quicker could we achieve our goals and objectives. All it would take is figuring out why something worked the way it was supposed to. And, then how.

How?

Think about it for a second. What if we were inclined to study what worked and why. To autopsy our successes so they could be replicated, compounding what we managed to get right the first time. Wouldn’t it make sense to apply the same technology and diligence to analyze what worked so we could do more of it?

What technology? Stay tuned…