In class this morning, I told the participants something they have seldom, if ever, heard. That is, we need to learn from our successes. Yes, I know that we have all been admonished by the poster people that we don’t learn from successes, we learn from failures. Yes, I get that, and that is obviously because failures are painful. But really? We don’t learn from successes?

I’m starting to think that learning from successes is probably one of the best-kept secrets in the corporate and L & D universe. That’s because no one wants others to learn from their successes. One of the main things we all learn from our successes is how we made horrendous mistakes but succeeded anyway because our competitors made more horrendous mistakes than we did! To benefit from that, we of course need to be absolutely candid about how far we have strayed from doing and demonstrating what we knew was true, right and just and managed to emerge winners because others strayed even more than we did!

That brought to my mind that well-worn saying, “Winners practice until they get it right. Champions practice until they can’t get it wrong.” Are you a company of winners? Or are you a company of champions? Is doing the right things in order to always increase value second nature to you and your people? Do you choose easily, without agonizing over it, what you WILL do and what you WILL NOT do in terms of business operations?

Make orthopraxy a manifest part of your company, not just focus on your orthodoxy. When the spirit of a champion is infused into your people, your behaviours as a company will attest to that achievement.

What were you successful at recently? Talk about it. Was it due to good orthopraxy? Or is there a fundamental course correction you have to make? Learn, grow, and advance. Learn from your successes!