Lessons Learned for Leaders – Follow Domino’s (and Others)

By Vicki Wrona, PMP:

There are several good examples of large and medium company leadership recognizing the value of learning from their mistakes, including Domino’s and Goodman Networks. If it works for the leaders of companies, why not a Project Manager of a project or a Functional Manager within an organization? Or even a parent?

First, let’s look at Domino’s. It’s hard to miss the advertising blitz that Domino’s is now putting forth. After much market research and soul-searching, Domino’s management realizes what consumers knew for years – that their pizzas were not that good. Because of that, they re-addressed and revised everything – the recipe, the crust, the sauce and the toppings. I applaud Domino’s for coming out so strongly and admitting that they veered off track. I wish them the best in their comeback. I haven’t ordered a Domino’s pizza in many years, but I will try them again now.

I found another, lesser known, example in an interview in Smart Business about how Danny Wade, President and COO of Goodman Networks, Inc., a $200+M firm, drives growth in his organization by using self-evaluation and feedback…in other words, lessons learned.

Let’s see how this can work. Wade says that, “analyzing our failures and determining where we went wrong is how we truly improve in our personal lives or our professional lives.” He constantly thinks introspectively and puts himself in other people’s shoes to imagine how they would see a situation. He analyzes failures to learn from them, openly sharing that he learns more from failures than successes. This attitude creates an environment that can evolve and where employees know this is not just talk.

The way that Wade performs this is to encourage feedback, allowing anyone to talk to him about anything as long it is presented and discussed in a “professional, nonattacking, nonthreatening manner.” He believes that when people are allowed to have their say and they feel heard, it cuts down on rumors and distractions. This allows employees to focus on their jobs and better serving the customer rather than on unfair internal policies or how they were treated. He believes in learning from criticism.

He also believes that leaders have to stay close to those performing the tactical work. Firsthand feedback may be difficult given the layers of management or organizations involved (see Undercover Boss: Are You Aware?), but it is critical in truly understanding what is going on. Too many leaders get away from that and don’t really see or hear this crucial information. How often is the functional manager or project manager taken by surprise by something that many others on the team easily see?

Lastly, a leader has to be willing to adjust. Are things going as you hoped? As planned? Are the right people in the right roles? Have you created an environment for them to be successful? If not, you need to be willing to admit what isn’t working and adjust.

I thought these were great lessons for all managers and leaders, and wanted to share them with you.

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