When working with our dogs, we aren’t afraid to fail, and that’s a beautiful thing.
The very first time we ask our dog to respond to a word cue, we have a feeling that is open and curious. We say to our new dog “Sit, Fido”, and we hold our breath. We wonder if Fido will be able to figure out what we are saying. In an atmosphere of exploration, our dog embarks on a new adventure with us. And we expect to be unsuccessful, many times. We also believe success will arrive eventually, after all, it’s just a learning curve. When success arrives, our little team of two celebrates together.
When is the last time you had that experience at work?
OK, back to our dog. Fido is certainly happy. He’s relieved to no longer be confused, and your happy reaction, is comforting and exciting. He’s done well. He’s secure. He can do it again. Tail wags all around.
You’re pretty happy too. You just confirmed that you can communicate with your new companion. Your dog understands you. Just look at him, he’s thrilled with himself and the feeling’s mutual.
This feeling of exploration is a very conducive environment for practice. Training and practice become ends onto themselves. If you don’t believe me, just think of the last time you had your dog sit for a cookie. Odds are, at least once in the last week, you’ve looked at your companion, holding the odd snack in your hand, and, rather than just giving it to him, you asked him to sit – just because. You and your dog practice “sit” all the time and you love it.
At work, we love to do the work we’re good at, and we love to build on skills that we feel confident in.
Once you get beyond the basics with your dog and you move into agility, rally, obedience or therapy work, or any other team activity that is done just for the love of it, it’s amazing how willing we are, as a team, to fail. When we are working with our dog on acquiring new skills, just for the sheer joy of it, failure isn’t even part of the vocabulary. It’s about mastering the learning curve, asking if it’s possible, trying and improving.
The willingness of the team to try, over and over, to understand a concept is just the beginning. The two of you repeatedly work to perfect the skill and continue to be open to mistakes, because you are engaged in the activity as a practice. This creates a unique feeling of challenge and enjoyment. If you’ve worked with a dog in this way, you have felt the dog’s sheer love of the repetition, felt the dog’s joy at meeting a challenge and getting the chance to demonstrate it.
At work, we don’t often give ourselves or our team members the same space as we would give our teammate in the ring. We don’t often view mistakes in the workplace in the same light, and that makes failing much more stressful and, ironically, improvement much less likely.
When is the last time you engaged with a new skill at work, open to failure, expecting to have to repeat it many times before you improved? In the workplace the number of iterations we go through with that openness to fail, and the willingness to try again, is normally very low. Of course, we’re expected to do well at work, that’s what we’re paid for. But we are also expected to learn new things.
Practice is hands down, the best way to become good at new things. And practice includes learning, failure, experimentation, observation and repetition.
So the next time you are assigned a new task, or you assign a new task to someone else, remember that feeling of curiosity. Expect failure, expect repetition and expect success. But most of all, expect to enjoy the curve.