Why Setbacks Can Be Good for Your Career

"Hi Tommy, you look miserable. What happened?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know the project X we just started manufacturing? We had to pause it. QA just found a problem in Over-the-air update. The device could become a brick in some edge conditions. We had to recall the design. We are paying the vendor day by day for the delay. I am the team lead of the project, and I feel responsible," Tommy said in dismay.

"So, what have you done to deal with it?" I asked.

"My team and I have been working non-stop in the last 10 days. We found a solution that is going through QA testing. Then we will send it to the vendor to restart manufacturing," Tommy said.

"You will write a COE (Correction of Error) to collect the lessons learned, I suppose?" I asked.

"Yeah, I am working on the COE. There are many things we could have done better, like end-to-end testing in the development cycle with real devices, instead of simulations," Tommy said. "But I worry that the setback will negatively impact my annual performance review. The timing is not good for me."

"Not necessarily. For any nontrivial project, setbacks are almost guaranteed to happen. Have you heard of the saying 'Plan is nothing, planning is everything'?" I asked.

"Nope," Tommy answered.

"That is Dwight D. Eisenhower, the former US President and Supreme Commander of Allied Forces during World War II. The idea behind this quote is that while plans may change and often do not go as intended, the act of planning helps individuals or organizations to be prepared, anticipate potential challenges, and make informed decisions." I said, "Now at work, since setbacks are guaranteed to happen, a setback in your project might be your opportunity to gain visibility and further your career. In the face of an unexpected setback:

1. Are you calm and collected? Or are you panicking and cursing everyone?

2. Are you communicating the status update to stakeholders timely and effectively? Or are you burying your head to work, without telling anyone what is going on?

3. Are you analyzing the problems rationally, open-minded to people's suggestions, using data to find alternative solutions that result in the most customer value? Or are you narrowing your solution to the first thing coming to your mind? A setback like yours might be your best chance to demonstrate your leadership principles under crisis and show what you are made of!"

"I see," Tommy said enthusiastically, "This could be my career advancement opportunity if I handle the situation calmly, communicate effectively and mitigate the impact productively!"

"The credit belongs to the people who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming."

"That is Theodore Roosevelt!" Tommy cried.