LAF: Learning, Attribution and Failure

Part of what makes learning difficult is our storytelling mechanism. We are storytelling machines; it helps us make sense of the world around us. It happens at a deep and unconscious level, and sometimes it happens in predictable ways.

We have a natural inclination to make attributions about success and failure. We attribute the success or failure of our efforts, and the efforts of others, to specific values.

These are values based or personalized explanations that are seldom correct, and even if they are, are often not helpful in the greater scheme of accomplishing great business results.

Here is how it works:

• If I succeed, I know what my intentions were, how hard it was, and what I did in order to accomplish it. As a result, I am likely to attribute that success to some internal characteristic - I was smart enough, strong enough, had the force of will to pull it off - I was savvy enough, creative enough - you get the idea. It was about me.

• If I fail, although I might kick myself for it, I again know what I intended and how hard it was, and what I actually tried to do. Here, I am likely to create a story that attributes that failure to external forces. I didn’t have enough time or other resources; the goal was not clear; the boss doesn’t really like me. It really wasn’t about me.

• If you fail, my automatic story will likely attribute your failure to some personal (internal) characteristic. You are lazy, you are not smart enough, or you deserve it because you are so difficult! The failure was about you.

• If you succeed, my attribution will likely be external or critical. You were lucky, you had help, it wasn’t really that hard to do, or you played politics successfully. It was not about you.

This attribution process comes naturally to us, without conscious thought. In research circles, it is referred to as the fundamental Attribution Error. It represents Old Brain adaptations for avoiding blame, protecting our territory, and understanding something quickly and easily.

Learning to Overcome the Attribution Error

Here is a big implication of this for our business results: Our continued success depends upon learning. If our objective is to increase learning in our company, overcoming the Attribution Error is critical.

There are so many elements at play when the goal is learning: current ability or knowledge, timing, the specific situation, our preparation, the other person’s preparation, how quickly we are able to pick up new information, how well we are able to communicate, how much we care - the list goes on. No single attribution, either internal or external, will be helpful. Most outcomes have multiple causes.

Overcoming Attribution Error means looking for the real answer as if it were a needle in a haystack. It requires challenging the overly simplistic story. Focus on doing your best, catch the attribution and laugh at it, and begin the questioning and critical thinking that can lead to great results!

By Diane Marentette and Richard Trafton, Ph.D., authors of “A New Brain for Business” and founders of The New Brain for Business Institute, www.newbrainforbusiness.com, where they translate good science into good business. For more information, please write to us at info@newbrainforbusiness.com.