Research and Development: It holds up!

Around this time in 2016, I wrote a post called Production versus Research and Development for Leaders. I think it holds up as a concept, and I have used this analogy hundreds of times since then. The nuance works better than some more mainstream alternatives, which can include…

– When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.

– We learn more from our failures than our successes.

– Thomas Edison didn’t fail 10,000 times – he just discovered 10,000 things that didn’t work.

I agree with those sentiments, but I feel like they can be a little too light, bordering on toxic positivity by glossing over the pain.

Instead, I loved what I heard from Dr. Kim (not his real name), because while it focuses on seeing the good, and on moving forward, it also doesn’t shy away from the fact that setbacks are hard for the person who goofed, and for the people around them. But in a trusting culture, you know those things will happen, and moving forward is a must.

Check out the post if you have time, and remember to learn from everyone you meet and continue to look at setbacks as research and development.

~ Alan