Learning from Failure

In this episode of Beneficial Intelligence, I discuss how to learn from failure. The Boeing 737 MAX8 aircraft just returned to the skies for the first test flights this week. After two fatal crashes, Boeing has fixed the malfunctioning MCAS software, but they also looked at the design and review process that allowed the defective software to be approved in the first place. That led to other improvements, making the 737 MAX8 even safer. 

In IT, we sadly do not learn from our failures in this way, and still routinely fly projects into the ground in the same way we did 20 years ago. To fix this, IT leaders need to show interest in the failures that happen in the organization. If you ask for the after-action report for every priority 1 bug and outage, and every retrospective hits your desk, your organization will start implementing improvements and learn from failure. 

Beneficial Intelligence is a weekly podcast with stories and pragmatic advice for CIOs and other IT leaders. To get in touch, please contact me at sten@vesterli.com