Humans make mistakes, so fumbles in life and in business are inevitable. What’s most important for companies is how they respond to those fumbles — whether they turn mistakes to their advantage by learning from them. In today’s volatile market, that skill is more valuable than ever.
One of the most famous examples from the past is Coca-Cola’s potentially disastrous decision in 1985 to replace its classic original formula with New Coke. Fortunately, the company quickly recognized its error — in a skillful recovery three months later, Coke heeded the outcry of its fans and reintroduced the original formula.
More recently, late-night comedians had a field day when Warner Bros. Discovery announced that just a few years after changing its name from HBO Max to Max, the streaming service was rebranding itself as HBO Max. For many, it felt like déjà vu. Time will tell whether Warner Bros. Discovery learns from its mistakes as well as Coca-Cola did.
For distribution companies already navigating complex challenges there are many reasons to feel anxiety about change. Adding to the mix, fluctuating tariffs and ongoing supply chain disruptions provide plenty of opportunities for faulty decision-making.
However, that shouldn’t prevent companies from taking calculated risks or pursuing new opportunities. Bad breaks are unavoidable, but with the right combination of foresight, resilience, and agility, you can mitigate risk. Even better, you may be able to turn them into wins. I’ve found five important principles that can help companies bounce back from missteps.
1. Choose the Right Projects
Measure twice, cut once is an old saw (pun intended), but it’s truer than ever. When choosing projects, making the wrong choice can lead to a drain on resources as well as your team’s morale, even when business is steady. It can be disastrous if a mistake goes uncorrected in volatile times.
How to forge ahead, despite the concerns for potential failure? Begin with thorough planning, including a careful assessment of risks and benefits. Have a plan for recovery to soften the landing if things go off course. And focus on the three A’s: assumptions, anticipation and alignment.
Assumptions: Base planning on solid data, not guesswork. Define expected outcomes for the project, then do the research to back those assumptions with data and market-based insights. Cut through the buzz by talking with industry peers who will give you the good, the bad and the ugly.
Anticipation: Consider contingencies ahead of time. Go in with a positive mindset but ensure you have a detailed plan if initial results don’t measure up to expectations. Set thresholds for pivoting or pausing an initiative that isn’t performing well. For example, if you’re running a CRM pilot and not meeting targets for adoption after the first quarter – and you’re confident that it was a solid effort – it may be time to go back to the drawing board. It’s also good to have a strategy to deal with likely disruptions, such as price spikes from suppliers.
Alignment: Prioritize projects that truly benefit the team, and make sure they’re on board. When the entire team understands the project benefits, it’s easier to get everyone to buy-in. Mandates from the top down will never work. Talk with end-users – sales, operations, the warehouse – to understand their needs and pain points. Their input will help design the project and communicate its benefits in a way that boosts adoption and builds enthusiasm.
2. Own Your Mistakes So They Don’t Own You
It’s difficult, but acknowledge any mistakes and scrutinize what went wrong, or you won’t have the resilience needed to rebound the next time.
Warning signs are typically spotted before things go off the rails, and all too often ignored because project leaders would rather visualize success. Don’t fall into this trap. If your CRM pilot isn’t meeting its goals, address the situation to quickly recover and move on.
3. Don’t Skip the After-Action Review (AAR)
It can be unpleasant to confront failure head-on. For that reason, many companies don’t take the time for a careful post-mortem when a project doesn’t live up to its goals. That’s means they’re missing valuable lessons that can propel future successes.
To get the best insights, perform a structured After-Action Review:
Objective: What were we trying to achieve?
Execution: What actually happened?
Gaps: What were the root causes of the gap between objective and execution?
Adjustments: How can we do things better next time?
If you notice common issues, it’s time to take action to ensure future projects succeed.
4. Embrace Transparency and Communication
If things get off track, don’t keep your team in the dark. Clear communication builds trust and encourages the team to examine the issues and fix them. Being on the same page about what happened, why, and what’s next reassures your team that leadership has a plan to move forward.
Equally important is to get feedback from the team members who are most directly affected by the problems. They can provide the most valuable insights for the future. Let them know it’s okay to confront what went wrong and learn from mistakes. This strategy restores confidence and enables better-informed approaches in the future.
5. Make Course Correction Part of Your Culture
Recognize that honest mistakes are par for the course and create a company-wide ethos focused on addressing and overcoming setbacks, rather than punishing people.
Promote smart risk-taking and quick recoveries. Understand that even the best-laid plans may not pan out for reasons outside of your team’s control. Reward them for taking smart action in a timely and transparent way.
Set the example. Demonstrate the value of taking ownership when things go wrong. Make it clear that acknowledging mistakes is a sign of strength — and build that understanding into your company culture.
Emphasize curiosity instead of finger-pointing. Don’t focus on ‘Who messed up?’ Ask ‘What did we learn?’
Recovery Skills Drive Competitive Advantage
Successful companies stumble on occasion. What sets them apart is that they’ve learned how to land on their feet when they do. With time and repetition, this process will help your company get faster and more agile at correcting course.
In an unpredictable, high-stakes business landscape, the ability to adapt and recover quickly is a survival skill that will serve you well — and give you the competitive advantage over companies that respond to adversity with blame, shame and denial.
Mike Marks is a founding partner of Indian River Consulting Group, specializing in B2B channel-driven markets.
