Sustainability = Learning

They are a symptom of innovation, of trying new ideas and of taking risks; all a part of recognizing that what has been successful in the past is not necessarily what will take you into the future. But mistakes are of value only when we learn from them. I am not a big fan of just saying it is okay to make a mistake. Instead, we should be championing the approach that more appropriately says, what can we learn from what we just attempted to do. Whether a successful result or a poor one, the important thing is to determine what should we do differently next time that will help us grow as an organization.

Jim Collins applies that thinking in several of his principles from Good to Great. Confronting the Brutal Facts speaks to the conversations we need to have to generate the learning that propels us into another attempt to move forward. The idea of the Flywheel says we keep nudging forward by building on what works rather than starting over again anytime something does not work. And his emphasis on a Culture of Discipline is required to making those learning discussions part of everything that is done.

When an organization can continually learn, it is developing the knowledge needed to know what to do next and how to do it better. How can you sustain a business if it is not learning? Not just learning about what is working and what is not, but learning from the customer, learning from employees, learning from any constituent that impacts that business.

It is also important to create an environment that encourages such learning to be shared across many people. I can learn from my mistakes or trying something that did not work effectively, but isn't it more important that others have that same learning? Certainly I will avoid the same actions that led to my less than acceptable result, but we want everyone to avoid that same outcome. Others will also have more ideas about what to try next time. Learning needs to be a shared experience. It is about what is best for the organization, not my ego.

So when I hear someone ask about how do you sustain a business, for me, the key is how to incorporate learning, every day, into the business's culture.

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