Research doesn’t give us specific information as to why managers succeed or fail. There are too many different kinds of management positions with very specific requirements and responsibilities that cover a continuum from simple to complex and from routine to very creative and innovative. Managers span the whole spectrum from competent to incompetent. You will also find that the actions of some managers who were considered competent at the time only generated a new set of problems for the future. Yesterday’s successes became today’s problems.
Organizational history teaches us much about the organizational successes and failures. If viewed with a critical lens, history may help us develop a roadmap for success and also help us avoid some commonplace failures. Your success as a manager depends on the success of your group. That success or failure depends on using a set of appropriate measurements called metrics.
Fear of Failure
Failure unfortunately is a necessary condition for accomplishing anything. If a person has never made a mistake, chances are that that person has never accomplished anything of significance. Making mistakes and learning from them is part of the success equation and cannot be avoided. But while mistakes are important to success, the types of mistakes need to be considered. Mistakes that occur because of a lack of attention or a slovenly approach to detail are not acceptable. Mistakes that add new knowledge or in some way ratify what is known are important. Thomas Edison once remarked that every mistake was one less experiment that had to be performed that would lead to understanding. A child doesn’t learn to walk without falling many times before that first step is taken. We make many mistakes before we learn how to participate in any sporting activity. We accept the bruises we get from mistakes made as we learn to ski. But we don’t look at these mistakes as tragedies that require some form of closure. Learning to manage is no different, except that now you have a greater responsibility to others than you had as a professional. You are now expected to take risks in pursuing the group’s goals and objectives and that involves making mistakes in judgment.