What lessons have I learned?

“Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It’s OK, If you’re not failing you are not growing.”

– H. Stanley Judd

Yesterday, I was writing notes to and following up with the contacts I made at the Summer NAMM Show in Nashville, TN. I also conducted a “post mortem” meeting – a lessons learned meeting – on the past week.

This is a very valuable meeting to hold at the conclusion of any project – and attending a convention is a project. Ask yourself – and the other people involved in the project:

  • What worked well? And why did it work so well?
  • What did not work out so well? And why didn’t it work out?
  • What can we learn from this?
  • How can we improve our performance the next time – knowing what we now know?

We learn more from our mistakes than we do from our success.

“Failure is success if you learn from it.” – Malcom S. Forbes

In the course of reviewing my performance at the convention, I was able to identify several areas for improvement. I tried my best to be candid in assessing each interaction that I had. There were many positives but I also identified several areas for improvement.

The one area that I had identified after an earlier convention, I am already working towards improving. I am diligently writing notes to follow-up on each conversation that I had at the convention.

So, please excuse me for now. I must complete this task. I am taking advantage of this opportunity to improve my performance.

Do you conduct “post mortem” meetings at the conclusion of your projects? If you do, please take this opportunity to share your thoughts on the process with our readers.

Thank you!