Define the test
Clarify what you are trying, why it matters and what evidence would help you judge the result.
Resilience
How to Get a Return on Failure
Use failure as information for your next attempt.
By John C. Maxwell
What this programme helps you work on.
Repeated attempts only become useful when something is learned and changed. How to Get a Return on Failure explores a cycle of testing, evaluation, learning, improvement and re-entry. Participants use a real experiment or setback to distinguish useful learning from repeating an unexamined mistake.
Who it suits
Leaders and teams learning from experiments.
The focus
Testing, evaluation, learning, improvement and re-entry.
Inside the programme
What you’ll explore.
These themes guide the learning. The depth and selection depend on the format and the needs you bring.
Evaluate the outcome
Compare what happened with what you expected and separate observations from explanations that still need checking.
Extract a useful lesson
Identify what the attempt reveals about your approach, preparation or assumptions, including what remains uncertain.
Improve and try again
Choose a specific adjustment and decide how the next attempt will test what you learned.
From ideas to action
Put it into practice.
Debrief a small experiment and define the adjustment for your next attempt.
An example to work through
Review a campaign or process trial that did not deliver the expected result. Identify the assumption it tested, the evidence it produced and one change worth making before the next trial.
This is an example of local application. We adapt the discussion to your situation and agreed scope.
Your practical takeaways
What you’ll work towards.
- A structured debrief of an actual attempt.
- A lesson supported by what happened.
- An adjusted test with a clear measure and review point.
The learning experience
How it works.
Facilitated learning combines explanation, discussion and reflection on participants’ own situations. Where the agreed format allows, you practise an application and decide what to try at work. Scope, duration and any follow-up are agreed around the group’s needs.