Learning from Mistakes Framework

Mistakes don’t define you. How you respond to them does. Every mistake hides a lesson. This framework will help you uncover it. Whether you’re running a business, leading a team, or managing your own life, navigating challenges can feel like uncharted waters. Mistakes happen, but they’re where the magic of growth begins. Let me share a simple framework that changed the way I approach challenges. It's based off of the U.S. Army’s After Action Review method. This framework can help you take any 'failure' - in business, leadership, or life - and turn it into wisdom through 5 reflective questions: 1/ What was planned? ↳ Set clear business goals and success metrics. Example: "We planned to increase website traffic by 50% in Q1 through a targeted social media ad campaign, with a clear focus on driving sign-ups for our newsletter." 2/ What actually unfolded? ↳ Track your progress honestly. ↳ Note both wins and setbacks. Example: "The campaign doubled website traffic, but only 10% of visitors signed up for the newsletter. Additionally, most clicks came from an unexpected age group (18-24)." 3/ What did you learn? ↳ Identify gaps between expectations and reality. ↳ Uncover growth opportunities. Example: "We discovered that our messaging resonated with a younger demographic, which wasn’t our original target audience. The landing page design was also too cluttered, which likely discouraged sign-ups." 4/ What can you do differently next time? ↳ Use your insights to shape a clear strategy. ↳ Create concrete action steps. Example: "We’ll redesign the landing page with a clean, minimal layout and a clearer call-to-action. We’ll also create personalised ads to better target both our intended audience and the younger demographic who engaged." 5/ Where can we try these new ideas next time? ↳ Identify upcoming business decisions. ↳ Apply your insights immediately. Example: "We’ll apply these changes to our next product launch campaign. Specifically, we’ll use the improved landing page design and split-test targeted ads to ensure higher engagement and conversion." Here’s what I want you to remember: ↳ Every challenge you face is shaping you into a stronger, more resilient leader - whether in business, leadership, or life. ↳ You have the power to learn, grow, and improve every time. ⤵️ What’s the most important lesson a mistake has taught you? ♻️ Know someone navigating challenges? Share this post to help them turn mistakes into their next breakthrough. 🔔 Follow me, Jen Blandos, for more practical tips on business growth and leadership.

The dawn of a new year often brings a sense of renewal and an opportunity to set new goals. But how do we ensure those goals stick, especially in tech and education? I've been reflecting on this as someone who's seen the industry evolve over 25 years. I've made many MISTAKES, but now you too can benefit from what didn't go quite right. Here's how you can set actionable goals for the new year that truly create value: If you haven't reviewed the framework, you may not have realized that it is all about turning goals into reality and accepting the inevitable challenges and errors along the way. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 Map: Identify the problem area, user needs, and the context. Investigate: Research and gather as much data as possible to understand the situation fully. Sketch: Develop initial ideas, solutions, or prototypes. Test: Validate the effectiveness of these prototypes. Adapt: Refine and enhance your solution based on the feedback. Kickstart: Implement or launch the final product or solution. Evaluate: Measure the results, assess the solution's effectiveness, and reflect on what could be improved. Sustain: Maintain the solution, iterate on it based on continual feedback and assessment, and ensure it continues to provide value over time. Don't let deviations throw off your game; instead, seek them out and learn from them quickly so they become your superpower.

Last year, I made some mistakes. Not the dramatic kind (thank goodness). More little ones that happen when you’re moving fast, making calls with imperfect information without losing momentum along the way. Now, with a bit of distance, I can see why. Doing what startups do. Moving quickly (because we have to). Responding to customers. Building while learning and making decisions based on base level data (because that’s what we have).  Speed wasn’t my issue. Lack of reflection was (and lack of time was the excuse). In the startup environment we work in, speed isn’t optional for us. Our runway is real. The market keeps moving. Decisions stack up quickly. And most days, everyone is wearing more than one hat (10 hats) IYKYK Kimberly Burns Annie Johnson. The thing about startups is we don’t just move fast - we change shape constantly. Our priorities shift. Roles evolve. Plans get rewritten, and growth creates new problems before we have had time to understand the last ones.  Without moments to pause and make sense of it, this speed can feel like: whiplash, rework, constant context-switching, confusion passed off as agility or fatigue disguised as ambition. And so,  I needed to find a way to perform better, to reflect quickly and make better decisions, fast. A framework that supports me. So I wrote down 5 questions which have formed a mini framework for me to work fast and better when time is scarce… (Feel free to save this and use them) 📍 What problem are we actually trying to solve right now? 📍 What have we learned that may change our thinking? 📍 What are we doing out of habit that might not make sense? 📍 What’s the clearest next decision (not the perfect one)? 📍 What is this going to cost us, (time, money and sanity)? It’s not a long reflection. It’s not workshops or off sites. It’s my brief, intentional internal calibration. I learned the hard way last year that speed without reflection doesn’t stay fast. It creates rework and it can slow you later with more mess (and stress). Already this way of working has cleared my thinking and given me just enough room to reflect quickly when I need to. It's not about hesitation, it`s not about slowing down. It’s what’s going to make the speed sustainable and the decisions better at humaneer 🚀

I don’t understand the shame associated with making mistakes. No one is perfect. No one delivered high-quality work on their first attempt. High-quality work IS the outcome of mistakes reflected upon. Use the RISE framework to turn any mistake into progress: R – Recognize Identify the mistake clearly without defensiveness. I – Investigate Ask why it happened. Was it a skill gap, a misunderstanding, or a process flaw? S – Synthesize Turn the insight into a principle or takeaway. E – Execute Differently Apply the learning immediately in your next project or task. Making mistakes is not the mistake. Not learning from them is. Quote from the book: It Always Seems Impossible Until It's Done. PS: If you found this helpful, I share more insights to help you build a growth mindset. Follow along if you’re on the same journey.

7 failures in 9 months. Every one paid off later. Most of my “failures” weren’t dead ends. They were unpaid apprenticeships with terrible hours. • The launches that flopped. • The ideas that 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 smart. • The days where nothing worked except my coping mechanisms. At the time, each one felt like I was dragging bricks uphill in flip-flops. Looking back, they were bricks. Bricks I later stood on. Bricks I now charge for. Here’s what helped me stop 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 failures and start using them: 1. 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 → Not six months later when you’ve romanticized it. → Right after the flop. While your ego is still tender. → Answer one question: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵? 2. 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲 → “I now test Y before committing.” → “I don’t build without talking to real humans first.” → Rules are how lessons compound. It isn’t about avoiding failure. It’s about stacking it until it turns into leverage. The people who “failed less” didn’t win. The people who learned faster did. 💭 What’s one failure you haven’t repurposed yet? 🔁 Repost if this gave you permission to stop beating yourself up 🔔 Follow Tonya for honest frameworks from the messy middle 🙏 to Pejman Milani for the brilliant image

Obsess over the feedback loop. All the learning you need is in the feedback loop. Most people don’t fail because they lack talent. They fail because they lack a system for learning from failure. Every success story rests on a foundation of failures that were properly ↳ Analyzed ↳ Iterated On ↳ And Improved Most of us don’t hit these important marks. We move move past failure too quickly, avoiding the embarrassing discomfort of reflection. We take failures personally instead of treating them scientifically. We assume trying harder is the answer when we need to try harder to design a better approach. I focus on one core truth: Learning more from failure is how we ultimately win. Failure is a feedback loop, and if yours is broken, you won’t just fail, you’ll repeat your failures over and over. Here’s how to fix that. 👇🏼 1️⃣ Pause & Reflect ↳ Before you move forward, stop. ↳ What went wrong? ↳ What did you assume? ↳ What was unexpected? 2️⃣Capture Data ↳ Write everything down. Future-you needs this information. 3️⃣ Remove Your Ego ↳ This isn’t about you, it’s about the process. ↳ Failures are feedback, not character judgments. 4️⃣ Get External Input ↳ Find people ahead of you who will tell you the truth. ↳ No sugarcoating. ↳ No yes-people allowed. 5️⃣ Identify the Root Cause ↳ Surface-level problems aren’t the real issue. Dig deeper. ↳ What’s the pattern behind your failures? 6️⃣ Make One Small Change ↳ Not everything needs an overhaul. ↳ Start with one adjustment and test the impact. 7️⃣ Test & Observe ↳ Don’t make assumptions. Run your new approach. ↳ Measure the results, and see what actually works. 8️⃣ Iterate with Consistency ↳ One correction doesn’t fix everything. ↳ Keep adjusting, keep improving, keep refining. 9️⃣ Build a Culture of Learning ↳ Winners review their losses more than they celebrate their wins. Every failure contains data. Every mistake contains insight. Are you learning? If you’re not, you’re setting yourself up to fail the same way again. DO. FAIL. LEARN. GROW. WIN. REPEAT. FOREVER. What do your feedback loops like? Which of these ideas might be most helpful to your work? Drop a comment below to share your experience. 👇🏼 _____ 🔗 Subscribe to The Failure Blog via the link in my profile (💯🙏🏼) ➕ Follow me, John Brewton, for content that Helps (💯🙏🏼) ♻️ Repost to your networks, colleagues, and friends if you think this would help them (💯🙏🏼)

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 . . . 🔷As a manager and leader, whether you're just starting out or you’ve been in the game for years, you know that the decisions you make every day can have lasting effects. But how often do you stop to reflect on how those decisions are made—especially when they don’t go as planned? 👇Before diving into your next big decision, ask yourself: ❓What past decisions didn’t turn out the way I expected? ❓Am I repeating the same approach, hoping for different results? ❓How can I use past experiences to improve my current decision-making? 💡In our rush for efficiency, we often move quickly, believing that speed will bring results. But true efficiency comes from intentional reflection—slowing down to mine the lessons hidden in past decisions, even when those decisions didn’t work out. 👉Here are some key steps you can take to improve your decision-making by learning from past experiences: 1️⃣ 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. Before jumping to solutions, make sure you're addressing the right issue. Don’t let assumptions or desired outcomes cloud your understanding of what’s actually at stake. 2️⃣ 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. Stress can cloud judgment and reinforce biases. By understanding what’s triggering your stress, you can prevent it from skewing your decision-making process. 3️⃣ 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁. Choose a few decisions that didn’t go as planned. What went wrong? Were there warning signs you ignored? This reflection will help you avoid similar mistakes. 4️⃣ 𝗔𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗼����𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲. Every decision comes with assumptions. Looking back, what assumptions led to poor outcomes? Did you rely on incomplete information, or overlook key factors? 5️⃣ 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Use what you’ve learned from past mistakes to make adjustments to your current decision. What new approaches can you take to get a better outcome? 6️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻. After reflecting on your past and current decision, create a strategy that addresses the lessons learned. Ensure your approach incorporates new insights to avoid repeating mistakes. 🪴Mistakes are not failures—they’re opportunities for growth. By taking the time to reflect on past decisions, you gain the insight needed to make more informed and confident choices in the future. 💫Remember, slowing down and reflecting is not a sign of inefficiency, but a strategy for long-term success. Ask yourself: 𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴?

Your reaction to failure predicts your leadership ceiling. This 5-step learning loop transforms feedback into growth: Amy Edmondson's recent post on learning frames (link in comments) resonates with what I see in my coaching practice. I guide leaders through learning loops that help them shift from feeling defensive to viewing mistakes as valuable experiments. These 5 practices can transform your relationship with feedback and failure, creating space for the growth that positively impacts your leadership: 1. Acknowledge the trigger  ↳ Trigger: You receive critical feedback on a presentation. 2. Reframe your narrative ↳ Reframe: Instead of: I'm a terrible presenter. Think: This feedback can help me become a more impactful communicator. 3. Reprogram your view on mistakes ↳ Reflect: I value engaging people with data. How does understanding this feedback improve my future presentations? 4. Extract the learning ↳ Learning: I need to focus more on concise data visualization. 5. Embrace iterative learning ↳ Practice: Revise your next presentation with new visualization techniques and track audience engagement. This mindset reshapes your core identity by transforming how you fundamentally relate to failure. It's about rewiring your relationship with yourself and your potential. Adopting this mindset makes you more willing and able to engage in the learning loop (process) effectively. This mindset primes you to personally connect your values to the process of improving, rather than resisting it because of ego or fear, reactions more associated with a performance frame. Try this approach and let me know how it shifts your relationship with setbacks. ⇢ What's one piece of feedback you've received this year that you could reframe through this learning lens? ♻️ Share this to help other leaders grow with each setback. I share (almost) daily posts on human-centered leadership and team dynamics. Tap the 🔔 icon in my profile (Michelle Awuku-Tatum) so you don't miss the next one.