Learning from Lessons – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

How do we correct course?

Photo by Jan Kahánek on Unsplash

How do you change course with no point of reference? In bad weather a pilot relies on instruments to find the way, and people and organizations are no different. Vision, mission, values and purpose serve us when things go well and when they get rough (like right now, for instance). Yet one kind of reflection rarely gets practiced, if ever: lessons learned. You often hear someone say, "If I could start over, I’d do xyz differently." That is already a lesson learned, because the odds of facing the same situation again are very high. How do we ask ourselves these questions? Why does it matter to ask them in time? How do we correct course and reach a safe harbor?

When values are missing, or simply not lived, in an organization, a family or our own lives, the damage shows up in the short, medium and long term. Values get overlooked because they rarely get much attention, much like thinking about how to reach a vision or living our purpose day to day. And yet, when something goes badly wrong and breaks every policy, rule or standard of good conduct, those pillars are usually where we look first. That’s when the moments of truth arrive, the deep reflections: "If only we had paid attention to value X." "If only I had seen that this went against my life purpose."

The lessons we take from hard, painful moments are only part of the answer. I’ve lived with the consequences of my mistakes, tried to make amends and worked to move on without repeating them. Even so, I’ve stumbled again, mostly from worrying about things beyond my control and from drifting, once more, away from my life purpose. One of the best practices I know, from my own life and from people and organizations that truly want to change, is giving lessons the weight and seriousness they deserve. Finding new ways to do things, committing to them firmly and, above all, learning.

The title may sound a bit dull, since "lesson" can feel like a scolding. Still, if life lets us carry on after acting against our most basic values or our purpose, that’s reason enough to reflect and commit to lasting change. A mistake has to be corrected, and the way to correct it at the root is to reflect on what it taught us. Being able to start over, getting a second round and a new chance, is more than luck. It reflects our potential, it shows how well we could do things the second time, and it’s a reward that keeps us fighting for a better future.

Warm regards,

Rodrigo Baccaro

P.S. This week’s VELA:

• What I was watching: Estoicismo, un antídoto contra la insatisfacción (Stoicism, an antidote to dissatisfaction). Roxana Kreimer has been a wonderful discovery for me, above all for the depth and simplicity (two things that are hard to pull off) with which she explains what she knows, and this episode in particular
  – What I was listening to: Asesoría y apoyo para PyMEs (Advice and support for small businesses). A podcast my friend Andrés recommended, and a very good episode. Dimes y Billetes is a great find
  – What I was reading: La conquista de América contada para escépticos (The Conquest of America for Skeptics). A book I’m rereading that keeps me company at night before bed

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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