Don't forget the wins

I saw a tweet the other day that had me thinking about the workplace expectation of not celebrating wins, big or small. In summary, my hypothesis is that we are wired to succeed, therefore there isn’t a expectation to build space to celebrate wins. Whereas when there is failure, there are processes and escalations to scrutinize the gaps so it doesn’t repeat.

Here’s the thread:

Subconsciously we’re expected to succeed, therefore the small wins are often overlooked. We don’t often see retrospective meetings for successful milestones. It’s to learn from failures so it doesn’t repeat. At least my view on the work status quo. Don’t fully agree with it tho

— Johnny Xu (@johnnyxu) March 13, 2021

I’d be interested in seeing the breakdown in postmotrum/retrospective meetings that celebrate success vs. review failures. My take is that the majority falls into the latter.

Breaking that down further, we’re supposed to succeed in our jobs. I mean, that’s why you’re hired into the role after rounds and rounds of interviews. If we don’t, it often comes off as a reflection of our lack in experience and skills as an individual.

If we use product releases as an example, there are so many factors that comes together for a successful product launch. From the individual developers, executive decisions, marketing, and legal, there’s plenty of room for failure in between cross functionally. Yet, we (my perspective as product managers and developers) shoulder a lot when it comes to success and failure.

So celebrate the wins because it should not be expected. Success is the combination of planning, hard work, perserverance, and luck all coming together.