When is failure worth celebrating. And when it’s not!

( In spanish / En español )

Two different types of failure and how to treat each type.

Let’s agree that “failure” means:

• “not achieving a goal within the set time frame”.

Type of failure #1: Failure in something that happens punctually. We achieve it now or never (or not for a long time).

Examples:

• The prototype had to work at the fair, but we couldn’t get it to work.
• The national football team had to reach the final rounds, but they didn’t make it.

Type of failure #2: Failure in something that is continuous. We achieve it now, or we keep working tomorrow, which we can also achieve, or the day after tomorrow, or the next one.

Examples:

• We wanted to achieve a 30% market share this quarter, and we only reached 25%.
• The Real Zaragoza wanted to be in promotion positions by Christmas, but they aren’t.

In punctual failure, the problem is that we won’t have another opportunity until next year’s fair or the next World Cup. There’s no possibility of progress, next year it won’t make sense to take my prototype to the fair.

In continuous failure, we can see tomorrow what we change to achieve the goal, or maybe we don’t need to change anything and just need to give ourselves more time. It depends on how we’re measuring progress.

Failing in something “now/never” is critical because it’s a final. You can/should give everything to the point and then recover. Failing in something “continuous” is not critical. It should serve as a control point to correct course or adjust efforts/expectations.

Who am I?

(In spanish / En español)

Do you know who you would say you are?

The other day, a friendly car salesman asked me what I was… “I’m a computer scientist,” I said. My usual response.

His comment caught my attention. “Computer scientist doesn’t really reflect the many things you do.”

And it’s true. I could have said that I’m an engineer, that I’m a manager, or even a product manager, or that I work managing teams…

Although I could also have said that I’m a tennis player or a runner, that I’m a writer, that I spend a lot of time reading, that I’m a husband but not a father, that I’m a son but no longer a grandson. Without a doubt, all of these things are as or more relevant when it comes to buying a car than my education or my job title.

First lesson: my biggest limitation is myself. Second lesson: before answering the question “What are you?” I should think carefully about which answer provides the most information in that context.

Are we what we are based on how we earn a living? When I’m suddenly laid off, do I become “unemployed”?

I am not what I have studied. I am not my job title. I am not my age, weight, gender, or place of birth. I am not my marital status, passport country, or place of residence, nor am I my savings or debts.

I am what I do. And every day, I can decide to do many things.

We are many things. And we are who we are.

Four lessons I learned the day I had to play padel in my underwear.

(Read in spanish / Leer en español)

It was a championship match and I forgot to pack my shorts in my bag. I realized this in the locker room. What to do? I could have not shown up, of course. Lose without even playing and let my partner down.

But I took a deep breath and looked for options. I had my sports underwear. Could I play with that on top of my regular underwear? Maybe with the shirt outside, it wouldn’t look too weird.

And so I did.

• Lesson 1: almost anything is possible almost always, if I think, look for options, and choose well.

I was quite embarrassed, so I mentioned it briefly when I arrived. But they didn’t understand. They didn’t realize I was wearing just my underwear, they thought I had bought some tight shorts. 😄

• Lesson 2: what is a weakness or a big problem for me may be impossible for others to see or lack importance.

I played my best padel. I thought it was going to be uncomfortable, mentally or practically (no pockets, I was going to spend the whole game thinking about how ridiculous I looked)… but I actually focused on my game and played very well.

• Lesson 3: often, I am my own biggest limiting factor.

After the match, in the locker room, I openly mentioned it. It was a funny anecdote, but nothing more.

• Lesson 4: even the most embarrassing thing, with time and the right audience, becomes just a good story to tell.

I could have not shown up, of course. Lose without even playing and let my partner down. However, I thought and chose, overcame my limitations, and gained an enriching experience and a curious story to tell. 😉

Work will be like school, not as in the classrooms, but as in the playground!

The classroom is strictly regulated.

• A time to start. Late-comers will be punished!
• A time to end. Everyone is counting down the minutes to leave.
• Agenda is scheduled. A boss dictates what to do next.
• Collaboration is sometimes prohibited and other times mandatory.
• There are grades, and each question has a correct answer.

The playground is freedom, passion and motivation.

• No punishment for coming late. Instead, the first-comers have the chance to lead and pick first.
• No desire to end. You could be there for hours.
• No boss, nor agenda. Everyone puts effort on the things they feel like they can do best, or they want to learn.
• Free chosen competition and collaboration, depending on the games you want to play.
• No grades. No correct answer.

A playground is an infinite game where the only goal is keeping the game up, interesting and fun.

Classrooms are a legacy from the industrial revolution, modelled after factories and offices so children could learn how to behave when growing up.

But the IT revolution send all this back to the 20th century. Unlimited connectivity brought us an infinite playground to play in.

Which kind of environment do you like for your playing at work?

Hint: if you work by the hour, your job is in danger. Hourly people is normally managed. That’s following procedure, being optimized on time or money. This means hourly jobs are under pressure of being outsourced or automatised. And the pressure is not going to fade out any time soon even in the mid of a global pandemy.

Bonus track: Seth Godin’s “Stop Stealing Dreams (what is school for?)”: For generations, our society has said to communities like this one, “here are some teachers (but not enough) and here is some money (but not enough) and here are our expectations (very low)… go do your best.” Few people are surprised when this plan doesn’t work.

Stop Teaching Agile to developers! (until the CEO, CTO, CFO, the salespeople and the People people have been trained)

Agile (as much as Lean) is not about certificates and methodology, but mindset and disposition.

Trying to improve development process by training the developers (only) is the same as trying to optimize how you drive nails on a wall by buying an electric screwdriver.

If you want to use the screwdriver you need to change the nature of the problem, so that you start screwing screws instead of driving nails.

If you want your developers to be (use?) Agile, you need to feed them with projects (and customers, and suppliers) that share the mindset, so you need to start getting all the C’s onboard first, or it won’t work.

The more we pretend it can be done the other way around, the worse.