Coach Andrea’s Intro

Are you the type of business person who takes a long time to start a project and once started the momentum builds?
Or are you the type of business person who is fine getting the project started, however never know when to stop the project? This week’s article is beneficial for both groups. Either way, you need to know when to end the project and it may be before the project is ‘finished”. Barry J. Moltz recommends including the definition of success and failure in your project plan. I’d always included the results I wanted, but not the point of failure.  What a great idea! Adding this point of measurement during the planning process brings additional clarity to the scope of the project. Don’t you just love getting new insights and ideas?.

Quote of the Week

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
~ Sir Winston Churchill

Raising the White Flag: No Shame in Surrender

If we define failure ahead of time, we know when to stop pursuing certain paths; we know when to get out, and why to leave.  Again too many times, we think if we stay a big longer or work a bit harder, we can turn it around.  But as Will Rogers said, ‘If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.’

It is almost always harder to quit than to keep going.  So many of us stay past the time when a business or personal relationship is profitable, productive, or healthy.  Part of the reason we stay may be that, by not having defined failure, we create the latitude to keep telling ourselves that we haven’t failed yet.  This is why defining success and failure up front helps us develop the kind of crazy confidence we need to rebound.  Unlike what many of us believe, having the courage to quit can sometimes actually build more confidence than staying the course (Moltz, 2008, p.175).

From:  Moltz, B.J. (2008).  Bounce! Failure, resiliency, and confidence to achieve your next great success.  Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Reprinted with permission from the OSU Leadership Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, (614) 292-3114, http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu.

Coaching Call to Action

Pull out 3 of your active project plans right now.  Look to see if you have a definition of success and failure noted on the plan.  If you don’t, add them.  If you do, congratulations!  Who else will you teach this concept to this week?

What’s New

Last weekend my daughter, Anna, graduated from college in three years!  Bill and I are so proud of her and look forward to watching this next year of her life unfold.  The plan is that she will take a year off between graduation from Colorado State University and starting vet school.  That’s the plan.  And she’s built into her plan the possibility of not being accepted into a vet program on the first go around.  How do our children get so smart?

Other articles you might be interested in:

1. Using Failure to Further Your Future
2. The Loaded Goal
3. Holding Ourselves Accountable
4. Seven Questions to Ask Yourself to Get Better Results

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