Strategies for Learning from Failure
Written by Amy C. Edmondson, this article on Harvard Business Review, outlines and interprets key perspectives and strategies that need to be considered when analyzing failures and learning from them. Edmondson shrewdly pinpoints the common downfalls that many senior executives fall into when encountering a failure, such as the blame game, and how factors such as this are counterproductive to tracing the real root of the problem and how to constructively learn from it. Edmondson also discusses the three types of failures that occur, preventable failures, unavoidable failures and intelligent failures. Preventable failures usually occur in predictable operations, such as manufacturing products, and they are failures that can be easily detected (i.e. through a defective product) and amended right away. These failures should not be repeated/tolerated as executives are able to detect them quickly, and the right course of action would ensure their prevention in the future.
Unavoidable failures are usually attributed to uncertainty in the workplace, if the context of work is not clear or if the situation the employee is in is unfamiliar, failures tend to occur. An example of this is if data is lost due to an error in a company’s system. The system’s failure is inherently due to an unforeseen circumstance and if management were to place the blame on the IT maintenance person, that would be counterproductive.
Intelligent failures are essentially the most useful types of failure because they allow employees and management to learn something about their process that they would not have been able to learn had this failure not occurred.
It is every leader’s mission and responsibility to promote an environment of learning and constructive feedback, and to belittle a blame-oriented attitude.
Luxury Brands Can No Longer Ignore Sustainability
Written by Andrew Winston, this article on Harvard Business Review discusses in detail the integral part that sustainability plays in the future of luxury brands and the continuity of their products. These companies’ trends historically did not indicate a particular interest in issues such as climate change, human rights and sustainable measures overall. However, according to a newly issued report (2016 Predictions for the Luxury Industry: Sustainability and Innovation), this trend will witness a drastic shift in the upcoming years as consumers are heavily invested in the preservation of the environment and ensuring all labor is treated with dignity and respect.
The main factors contributing to this change-of-attitude is the pressing laws that are being enforced on companies globally to implement more sustainable measures and eco-friendly approaches to the production and processing of their products. An example of this is the newly issued law in Britain, Modern Slavery Act, which requires all large companies to issue annual statements on slavery and human trafficking data.
Moreover, the article discusses the changes in social norms and that consumers nowadays are more perceptive, well informed and conscientious on the products they wish to spend their money on. Additionally, many celebrities and persons of interest have voiced their concerns about these issues therefore influencing their fan base/followers to adopt the same beliefs into their everyday lives.
Another key concern is the scarcity of the raw materials needed to produce these high-quality products, companies need to acknowledge the significance of this issue and adjust their processes as such.
The article advocates for further transparency and predicts a positive outcome, as companies now are obliged to adhere to laws that ensure their compliance to sustainability measures, and many of these companies have already began implementing these measures and witnessed a reduction in damaging emissions.