No One Cares That You Were Right

If you're any good at what you do, you will inevitably come to a point in your career where one of your colleagues has a project/proposal/plan/idea/etc that they come up with that you just know won't work. If you're lucky, your input will be evaluated and the matter at hand will either be scrapped or changed so that it can become viable. If you're unlucky, your company will go ahead despite your warnings.

The thing that you need to understand is that if your company moves ahead and then the the item ends up failing, no one cares that you were right. What they care about is turning it around so that it can succeed, or backing out gracefully.

What I've found is that it's human tendency to want to relish in "I told you so" boasting (especially if it's your first time being right publicly). After all, you just had a career breakthrough right?! You proved that your business acumen can be trusted and that you're a credible source of knowledge. In the long run that will go a long way in establishing your credibility in the company and building your own confidence, but in the short term it doesn't matter much. What matters now is how you're going to fix it.

So instead of gloating remind yourself why you predicted it would fail, and what proof you now have that it did, indeed, fail. Here are some of the most common reasons for failure:

1. Wrong Numbers
2. Inconsistency with Overall Company Mission
3. Incorrect Assumptions
4. Lack of Targeting
5. Poor Cross-Team Communications
6. Lack of Full Organization Buy-In
7. Financial Constraints

Once you know why it failed you can help your company decide whether it should be abandoned or re-worked. If you attach yourself to being part of the solution it will show maturity and a strong sense of commitment to the company's ongoing success.

Tell me about a time when you knew that an activity was going to fail at your company. Why did it fail and what did your company decide to after? How were you part of the solution?