The first anniversary of my year in business has prompted me to review last years’ work in all its glory: the good, the bad and the ugly!
Popular wisdom suggests that we learn the most from our mistakes. And it’s certainly true that a bad piece of work, seems to more urgently suggest looking at the why.. What happened? What went wrong? What could be changed, built on, improved to make it better next time?
And there’s lots of evidence to show that not looking at what went wrong can cost your business and cost it badly.
Reviewing the bad (and the ugly), is, well, uncomfortable, because at its most honest it is asking ‘What could I have done differently or better?’. What should I be learning from this experience?
And yet, somewhat counterintuitively, it almost seems that it’s easier to go through this analysis and come up with what hasn’t worked (and hopefully learn from this); than to go through the same process for the positive pieces of work. I’ve rehashed what didn’t work a hundred times.. and yet, it only accounts for a tiny, tiny percentage of my work..
It’s like we just take the positive experiences for granted, take them as a given.
Imagine the power (and the joy) of reviewing all that went well – building a portfolio of positive stories with key themes and attributes.. Imagine being able to say: I did my best work when …. And more importantly, knowing what really brings out your best work, brings out the brilliant you..
What do you think? Do you learn better from your mistakes or your triumphs? Do you know what brings out the brilliant you?
