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Every successful project has likely seen failures along the way. Failure isn’t only inevitable; it’s actually crucial to successful project management. Instead of thinking of failure as the opposite of success, serial entrepreneur Jason Kulpa invites project managers and other leaders to view failure as an integral part of the process.
Defining “Good” Project Management
If every project ran smoothly and was completed without any obstacles to overcome, there would be little need for management. Competent team members could simply do their jobs, hit their deadlines, and bask in the glow of success.
But that’s not how things work most of the time. In the real world, supply chains break down, teams fail to communicate effectively, clients change their minds, budgets get cut, and deadlines get missed. An effective project manager has the cool temperament, flexible thinking, and team-building skills necessary to meet each challenge along the way.
In other words, good project management isn’t the absence of failure; it is the ability to overcome each minor setback along the way to success.
Failure and Fear
If you’ve never failed, you have yet to master one of the most critical business skills—overcoming the fear of failure. The fear of failure prevents entrepreneurs from doing great things. The constant “but what if” hanging over your head can block creativity and innovation.
Once you’ve failed at something, you’ll start to understand that the world will keep turning anyway. You will figure out a plan B, pick yourself up, and move forward. Small failures teach people to be resilient and to trust their ability to think differently.
Once you can accept failure as a natural part of any undertaking, the fear of failure won’t limit your success.
Failure Improves Your Understanding
The Wright Brothers are known for inventing the first airplane, not for their dozens of failures. Their path to building a flying machine was littered with pieces of crashed and failed models before that first famous flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Each model that did not work taught them more about the process of flight until they finally achieved success, so amazing that it changed the world forever.
Your project may or may not be life-changing, but your understanding of how to manage a successful campaign will grow with each obstacle you manage to jump over.
Failure Teaches the Value of Success
Without failure, we wouldn’t fully appreciate all of the hard work that goes into success. A good project manager recognizes team members who work to steer a project toward the goal line.
A culture of appreciation is one in which talented employees invest in the company’s success. It is the ultimate win-win situation. Management feels good about rewarding team members who thrive despite setbacks, and employee satisfaction grows.
Failure is only final if you let it be. With every disappointment comes a new opportunity to refine your product, brand, or business model. Entrepreneurs who are willing to learn the lessons presented through failure — instead of allowing failure to define them — are the ones that will find lasting success, no matter what surprises their business venture may throw at them through the years.
About Jason Kulpa
Jason Kulpa is a serial entrepreneur, CEO, and Founder of UE.co. He is also a semi-finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur award. Under Jason’s leadership, his teams volunteered at more than 24 events to improve the community of San Diego in 2018. Kulpa is passionate about bringing awareness to and supporting causes that benefit people with special needs.
Photo by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels
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