If you’re learning how to parachute, you don’t start by jumping out of an airplane. You start by learning how to land safely so that when you do jump, you can do it again.

Over the years, I’ve heard many leaders talking about making it safe for their people to fail. Failure was such a prevalent topic at one point that leaders were running around companies telling their people to “fail fast.”

I get why so many people are talking about failure, as there’s a great deal to learn from failing. However, failing is not the place to start.

First, teach your people how to recover and look at a problem. Then they need sufficient time to learn and improve, rather than rushing on to the next thing. Give them the conditions to learn and recover, then watch where they take things!

You’ve got this.

P.s. Don’t worry about the failing part – it’ll happen anyways.