I recently watched a TED video all about the F word.
(I highly recommend watching at least one TED video daily by the way, incredibly inspiring).
The F word is the Failure word, not what you were thinking?
The presentation was about engineers without borders and how this engineer had come to recognize that despite their best efforts creating water holes for one of the poorest countries in Africa, they were, in fact failing to deliver. This was because there was no infrastructure to maintain and sustain. The thing about sustainability is you need to sustain it right! So after a short time these water holes stopped functioning which meant they became useless.
Now, instead of becoming despondent and disheartened this engineer and his team decided to focus on the failings. In fact, they were so focused, they created reports for donors to read (imagine reading a report on failure when you’ve donated thousands of dollars to this cause?) and websites detailing what’s wasn’t working.
As my mentor Marcus Bird has always said to me, run flat out towards what you fear, and make as many mistakes as you can, as fast as you can!
That’s exactly what these guys did.
There key donor organizations could see the plan. These reports were an incredible resource of learnings enabling engineers without borders to go back and elevate their delivery.
So I put it to you, my fellow wellness practice owners. Are you looking at what’s not working aswell as what is? Are you embracing your failures with an open heart and mind and inviting your team to do the same with compassion, non-judgement and insight? The faster we make a mistake, recognize it for what it is, and then correct, the faster we evolve. It’s that simple.
And remember it’s a system problem first, then go to the people.
Good luck with your next team meeting.
About the Author:
Dr. Andrew Arnold (Chiropractor) is the ‘Practice Leverage Expert’; Principal Chiropractor and owner, Cranbourne Family Chiropractic and Wellness Centre; Business Consultant; Founder, Million Dollar Wellness Practice. Andrew is married to Dr. Linda Wilson, the Stress Specialist and has two children, Isaac and Bella. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.