Page 211 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

HOW DO I RESPOND TO DISPOSABILITY AND CHANGE? (GROWTH, LEARNING, AND RESILIENCE)

Watson called him into headquarters. The guy walked into
Watson’s office weak-kneed. Watson said, “Do you know why
I called you here?” He responded, “I assume you called me
here to fire me.” Watson said, “Fire you? Hell, I just spent
$10 million educating you. I just want to be sure you learned
the right lessons.” 3
Another story is told of Jonas Salk, the inventor of the
polio vaccine. When asked where he got the resilience to
persevere through multiple scientific failures, he referred to
his mother. He remembered a time as a child when he was
eating cookies and milk while zooming a toy car around the
table. His mother warned him repeatedly to move his milk
away from the edge of the table so he wouldn’t spill it, but he
ignored her. Predictably, he knocked the milk to the floor.
He looked up, chagrined. Most parents would have scolded
a child for ignoring warnings. Salk remembers his mother
simply asking, “So, what did you learn?” The importance of
learning from failures stuck.
These stories exemplify an abundant response to failure.
Rather than use change and setbacks as an excuse to scold,
punish, give up, or give in, leaders who build abundance
focus on learning and resilience.
No one becomes a better musician, teacher, scientist,
carpenter, dentist, accountant, or manager without stretch-
ing outside of their comfort zone. The only way to avoid
the setbacks and disappointments inherent in this unfamil-
iar territory is to avoid trying new things. Frankly, if you
are not failing at something, you are probably not push-
ing yourself hard enough. What’s more, failure should
be disappointing. If there is no disappointment, the work
you tried was probably not that important to you. We have
coached leaders to “rejoice in disappointment” because

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