Learning From Mistakes

Over the course of my career, I’ve learned to be okay with getting things wrong.       Not because it feels good (it doesn’t), but because every mistake creates an opportunity to learn and grow. And because it means someone trusted me enough to tell me when I missed the mark. That kind of honesty feels increasingly rare—especially in a world where AI is telling people exactly what they want to hear and where people increasingly gravitate toward information that confirms their beliefs.      That’s why I think one of the most valuable skills you can cultivate is this: Find people who will give you tough feedback.      Across my time at Microsoft, the Gates Foundation, and Pivotal, the moments that shaped me the most weren’t the wins. They were the times when someone I trusted pulled me aside and gave me feedback I needed to hear. These conversations helped me see what I’d missed and rethink how I was showing up, which made me a better leader. But they only happened because the people around me knew they could be honest, and in fact, I expected them to be. You can’t grow—or help your teams grow—if you act like you’re the only one with all the answers.      I’ve seen this in every place I’ve worked. The leaders who made the biggest impact weren’t the ones who got it right all the time. They were the ones who created the conditions for honesty. Their teams felt free to surface new ideas, ask tough questions, and admit their mistakes. And those leaders were humble enough to hear feedback about themselves—and then take the steps to do things differently.       My advice on how to build this skill? Seek out colleagues and mentors you can trust to give you honest feedback. Ask for it often. Be vulnerable—not defensive—and take the opportunity to understand what you didn’t see before. It will transform the way you learn, lead, and build teams that thrive. #SkillsontheRise 

My LinkedIn tells you that I am a successful engineering manager working at Google & living the dream but here’s what it won’t tell you: ► Back in 2008, after completing my masters in the USA at Cornell University, I  was unemployed for 9 months.  ► I was rejected by Microsoft, 5 times (2 times in the same year & 2 different countries)    ► Startups turned me down because I couldn't write a Binary Search Tree.  ► Google rejected me because I couldn't explain how Hadoop works.  ► When I finally landed a job, I was told: "You’re not good enough to be a software engineer."  I broke production code. Multiple times.   As an architect, I built a product that didn’t scale.   As a new manager, two engineers quit my team—because of me.  But my biggest failure?  ► I caused a million-dollar outage at Amazon.   Millions of users were impacted.   Amazon.com went down for five minutes.   And I was the reason.   3 Lessons from my journey to help you become a TOP engineer: ✅ 1. T : Talent is overrated and You will fail. Accept it, but don’t stop.   - Every engineer screws up. The difference is who keeps going and learns from it.   - Your failures won’t define you, what you do after them will.  ✅ 2. O : Own your mistakes as Writing code is easy.    - It’s easy to blame deadlines, bad specs, or teammates.   - Great engineers take responsibility, learn from failure, and improve.   - No one remembers your mistake forever. But they will remember how you handled it.  ✅ 3. P : Problem solving is permanent. Knowledge is temporary.   - You won’t always know the answer. You’ll forget concepts.   - What matters is your ability to learn fast, debug effectively, and think through problems.   - The best engineers aren’t those who know everything, hey’re the ones who figure things out.  Failures aren’t career-ending. They’re career-defining.  So, fail, learn, and keep building. 

I failed 5 times before I figured it out. Here’s every business I tried (and what each taught me)  2015 - Charity Platform ✅ Why I thought it would work: Charities needed fresh ways to raise money. ❌ Why it failed: Big charities move way too slow, red tape killed momentum. 💡 Lesson learned: Work with smaller, agile clients who can act fast. 2016 - Affiliate Site for Dentists ✅ Why I thought it would work: Dentists pay big for leads = $$$ opportunity. ❌ Why it failed: Having a product isn’t enough, I had zero marketing skills. 💡 Lesson learned: Affiliate success = mastering marketing & performance media. 2017 - Talent Agency ✅ Why I thought it would work: I crushed it in influencer marketing—this felt like the next step. ❌ Why it failed: Managing ego-driven talent is a nightmare. 💡 Lesson learned: Winning in one space doesn’t mean you’ll win in the next. New market = new skillset. 2018 - Doodlar (Teespring Competitor) ✅ Why I thought it would work: Teespring made £50M—I wanted a piece of the pie. ❌ Why it failed: I went too broad instead of focusing on a niche. 💡 Lesson learned: Start with a laser focus (e.g., anime fans) before scaling up. 2019 - PetHeart ✅ Why I thought it would work: Pet owners are obsessed with their pets. ❌ Why it failed: I wasn’t a pet owner, I didn’t understand my customers. 💡 Lesson learned: Deep customer insight is non-negotiable for product success. What did I do differently? I embraced failure, learned from it, and applied those lessons to my next big idea. Your failures don’t define you how you learn from them does. So, if you’re struggling, don’t give up. The next big success might be just around the corner.

Losing hurts. But staying stuck in that loss? That’s the actual failure. We’re taught to see our careers in binary: ↳ Win or lose ↳ Success or failure ↳ Up or out But people who build sustainable success know different: They don’t win or lose. They win or they learn. Here’s what many others miss: The learning days outnumber the winning days. By a lot. And every setback is showing you something: 📌 Flub the presentation → Get better at storytelling 📌 Mangle the pitch → Sharpen your message 📌 Miss the deadline → Build better habits 📌 Botch the promotion → Clarify your values 📌 Lose the job → Find your path The pattern? What feels like failure in the moment becomes the foundation for what’s next. But only if you stop treating loss like defeat. 3 ways people who keep learning reframe setbacks: 1/ They extract the lesson quickly ↳ “What did this reveal about my approach?” ↳ “What would I do differently knowing what I know now?” ↳ Turn the sting into strategy before moving on. 2/ They separate outcome from effort ↳ A bad result doesn’t always mean bad work. ↳ Sometimes you do everything right and still lose. ↳ The market shifts, timing’s off, it wasn’t the fit. 3/ They keep a “setback inventory” ↳ Track what each “no” taught you. ↳ Notice patterns in what’s working vs what’s not. ↳ Use failures as data, not identity. Your biggest learns will come from your hardest losses. Not despite them. Because of them. This isn’t toxic positivity. Losing still hurts. Rejection still stings. Setbacks still shake your confidence. But staying stuck in shame? That’s optional. Remember: Failure isn’t the opposite of success. It’s part of the process. The question isn’t whether you’ll lose. You will. The question is: will you learn? ♻️ Share to help someone learn 👉 Follow me, Maryann (MJ), for mindset-led career growth 📷 Image: @insighttimer (IG)

Mistakes don’t define you. How you respond to them does. Every mistake hides a lesson. This framework will help you uncover it. Whether you’re running a business, leading a team, or managing your own life, navigating challenges can feel like uncharted waters. Mistakes happen, but they’re where the magic of growth begins. Let me share a simple framework that changed the way I approach challenges. It's based off of the U.S. Army’s After Action Review method. This framework can help you take any 'failure' - in business, leadership, or life - and turn it into wisdom through 5 reflective questions: 1/ What was planned? ↳ Set clear business goals and success metrics. Example: "We planned to increase website traffic by 50% in Q1 through a targeted social media ad campaign, with a clear focus on driving sign-ups for our newsletter." 2/ What actually unfolded? ↳ Track your progress honestly. ↳ Note both wins and setbacks. Example: "The campaign doubled website traffic, but only 10% of visitors signed up for the newsletter. Additionally, most clicks came from an unexpected age group (18-24)." 3/ What did you learn? ↳ Identify gaps between expectations and reality. ↳ Uncover growth opportunities. Example: "We discovered that our messaging resonated with a younger demographic, which wasn’t our original target audience. The landing page design was also too cluttered, which likely discouraged sign-ups." 4/ What can you do differently next time? ↳ Use your insights to shape a clear strategy. ↳ Create concrete action steps. Example: "We’ll redesign the landing page with a clean, minimal layout and a clearer call-to-action. We’ll also create personalised ads to better target both our intended audience and the younger demographic who engaged." 5/ Where can we try these new ideas next time? ↳ Identify upcoming business decisions. ↳ Apply your insights immediately. Example: "We’ll apply these changes to our next product launch campaign. Specifically, we’ll use the improved landing page design and split-test targeted ads to ensure higher engagement and conversion." Here’s what I want you to remember: ↳ Every challenge you face is shaping you into a stronger, more resilient leader - whether in business, leadership, or life. ↳ You have the power to learn, grow, and improve every time. ⤵️ What’s the most important lesson a mistake has taught you? ♻️ Know someone navigating challenges? Share this post to help them turn mistakes into their next breakthrough. 🔔 Follow me, Jen Blandos, for more practical tips on business growth and leadership.

You can’t have a high-velocity, high-impact career without screwing up. I had multiple public screwups on my way to Amazon VP. The good news is that mistakes can help your career if you handle them right. Here is a formula: 1) Own it. 2) Fix it. 3) Communicate it. 4) Learn from it. 5) Move on. That really is it, but of course, each of those pieces has steps of its own. To own your mistake, you must be specific and direct. Tell your leadership what went wrong and why to the best of your knowledge. Tell them that it is on you to fix and how you will go about doing that. If you don’t know any of these details, tell them you don’t know and when they can expect an update. To fix the problem, consider what options you have based on new information. If time allows, pressure test these options by running them past one expert and one skeptic. Ask three questions: “What am I missing?” “What breaks first?” “What would have to be true for this to work?” Then, assign clear owners, clear expectations, and call in reinforcements. Get experts from other teams to help you—don’t be proud. Make small adjustments where possible, but don’t be afraid to roll it all back. Don’t be tied to old expectations or original ideas. Give your leadership and team a cadence for your updates, and stick to it. Frequent updates will help buy you time and win back trust piece by piece. When the crisis has been stopped and things have been fixed, reflect on what you have learned and share it. Then, move on. Dwelling on what you did wrong does not help your career, your mental health, or the business. Moving forward, setting new goals, and bouncing back helps all three. If you want a more in-depth lesson on how to mentally prepare to lead through crises, how to manage them, and how to recover, read this week’s newsletter: https://buff.ly/uZWsxLV Readers- what mistakes have you made that you were able to thrive through? How did you bounce back?

Mistakes are an inevitable part of the human experience, both in our personal and professional lives. Despite our best intentions, errors and missteps occur. However, it is not the mistakes themselves that define us, but rather how we choose to respond and learn from them. Mistakes provide us with valuable learning opportunities. They offer insights into areas where we can improve, helping us grow both personally and professionally. When we approach mistakes with a mindset of curiosity and a willingness to learn, we can extract valuable lessons that contribute to our development and success. Learning from mistakes involves acknowledging and taking responsibility for our actions. It requires humility and a willingness to reflect on our choices and behaviors. By examining the root causes of our mistakes, we can identify patterns, uncover gaps in knowledge or skills, and develop strategies to prevent similar errors in the future. Furthermore, learning from mistakes promotes resilience. It allows us to bounce back stronger and more prepared to face future challenges. By understanding the consequences of our mistakes and making necessary adjustments, we build resilience and develop the skills to overcome obstacles and setbacks with greater ease. Moreover, learning from mistakes is not solely an individual endeavor; it also benefits teams and organizations. Creating a culture that encourages open communication and learning from mistakes fosters innovation and growth. When individuals feel safe to share their mistakes, experiences, and insights, it unleashes collective learning, enables the sharing of best practices, and drives continuous improvement. It's important to remember that mistakes should not be dwelled upon or turned into a source of shame. Instead, they should be viewed as stepping stones towards progress and success. By embracing a growth mindset and understanding that mistakes are an integral part of the learning process, we can develop resilience, gain valuable insights, and cultivate a culture of continuous improvement. In conclusion, mistakes are inevitable, but they should never be feared or avoided. Embracing and learning from mistakes is essential for personal and professional growth. When we approach mistakes as opportunities for learning, we transform setbacks into stepping stones, enabling us to become more resilient, knowledgeable, and successful in our endeavors.

Regret your candour with the boss? Made a careless blunder that will cost the company a lot of money? Ignore a minor problem that now puts your credibility at risk? You’re not alone. Everyone I know makes mistakes. Many of them are also leaders, doers, trailblazers and have profit from making mistakes. James Joyce says mistakes are the portals of discovery and the management literature abounds with many articles advocating that mistakes can be a good thing. But there is a caveat - whilst making mistakes is part of working life, learning from them and managing their consequences requires integrity and skills. We all make mistakes and if managed poorly, mistakes will damage our reputation and career. This is especially true when we are at vulnerable points in our career like when we are just at the beginning of our career or starting a new role, or trying to win over a new manager. So how does one respond when one makes a significant mistake? Many wish the mistake would not be noticed, or are gripped by fear that prompts poor decisions. The key is to replace wishful thinking and fear with taking control of the situation. This can be achieved by a four-step approach. 1. Own up. But tread carefully especially if the company has a culture of blame-shifting - it's important to pick your moment and find allies. But whatever you do, own up before your hand is forced. And own up properly - admit the mistake and don't make excuses. 2. Improvement. Shift the focus from blaming people to improving processes by doing an objective assessment to identify root causes and process improvements so the same mistake will not happen again. Also articulate accurately the consequences of the mistake and recommend specific actions to mitigate its impact. 3. Permission. Share how you would implement the mitigation measures and improvements, and get approval to proceed. So from being the person who made the mistake, you become the person who eliminates mistakes. 4. Compassion. Have compassion for yourself. Recognise that A. mistakes likely happen when you strive for growth and push for performance, B. You can learn from this experience and reduce the chances of mistakes, Whilst we can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, we can learn, be better and never make the same mistake. Agree?

3 Mistakes I Made Early in My #DataEngineering Career (And What I Learned) When I started my data engineering journey, I thought knowing #Python, #SQL, and #AWS was enough. I was wrong. Here are 3 painful mistakes I made — so you don’t have to. 1. 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 I thought: "If my pipeline looks complex, it will look impressive." Reality: - Complex = fragile. - Complex = impossible to debug under pressure. - Complex = slower teams. 💡Lesson: Make it simple first. Then make it scalable. Clarity wins over cleverness. 2. 𝐈𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 "We’ll fix data issues later." "Let’s just focus on getting the pipeline running." I made this mistake more times than I can count. Reality: - Bad data = bad decisions. - Debugging dirty pipelines is 10x harder than building clean ones. 💡Lesson: Validate your data as early as possible. Always assume upstream data will break — because one day, it will. 3. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐈𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞 "We’ll worry about scaling when the traffic increases." Nope. When you don’t plan for scale, small problems become fire alarms later. 💡Lesson: Design like your pipeline will have 10x data tomorrow. Even simple partitioning, indexing, and retries can save future you. 💬 If you’re early in your data engineering career, remember: - Simple > Complex - Quality > Speed - Future-proofing > Quick fixes ✔️ Save this post — you’ll thank yourself 6 months from now. ✔️ Share it with someone starting their #datajourney

I've made every management mistake in the book. Here are the 15 that cost me the most. I've led teams for 25 years. And one lesson I learned over and over: The behaviors that got me promoted to manager, Often became liabilities as a leader. Being the best problem solver?  -> Now I'm a bottleneck. Always having the answer?  -> Now my team stops thinking. Never needing help?  -> Now I can't delegate. I had to unlearn to lead. Here are 4 themes from my 15 biggest mistakes: 1. CONTROL DISGUISED AS CARE I thought being involved in everything showed I cared. I micromanaged highly capable people. I solved every problem myself. Reality: Control doesn't scale. It creates dependency, not capability. 2. AVOIDANCE DISGUISED AS PATIENCE I avoided hard conversations hoping they'd resolve themselves. I tolerated underperformers because I didn't want conflict. I waited for perfect data before making decisions. Reality: Patience with problems isn't kindness. It's cowardice. 3. ACTIVITY DISGUISED AS PROGRESS I said yes to every good idea. I rewarded effort over results. I let meetings multiply unchecked. Reality: Busy doesn't equal effective. Focus beats hustle. 4. ASSUMPTIONS DISGUISED AS CLARITY I delegated tasks without defining success. I had secret expectations I never voiced. I skipped 1-on-1s when things got busy. Reality: What's obvious to you is invisible to your team. Want my full list of mistakes?  Download the image in this post. The hardest lesson: Everything that made you promotable can make you ineffective. Your technical expertise?  -> Now you need to coach. Your ability to execute?  -> Now you need to empower. Your individual output?  -> Now you need to work through others. Management isn't about being the best player. It's about building the best team. It's about developing a system that scales.  It's about unlearning as much as it's about learning. Which management mistake can you share? Help others by sharing it below. Please repost ♻️ to help others learn from my mistakes. Follow Dave Kline 🔔 for more hard-won leadership lessons.