With a background that combines experience in the technology field, Ricardo shares his lessons learned.
In the business world, failures are as inevitable as they are valuable. Talking to Ricardo Edo Nevado, Chief Technology Officer at Galeo Tech, is a journey of learning and improvement. With a background that combines experience in the family business with prominent roles in the technology field, Ricardo shares with us his vision of failure and how it can be a catalyst for personal and professional growth.
FuN: What's your personal definition of failure?
Ricardo: For me there are two types of failure, the first would be to throw in the towel, to give up: what makes us move and excites us is trying to achieve a goal, until we achieve it, or we give up. The gratifying sensation of achieving it is usually quite ephemeral, but failure can haunt you for a long time. We need these victories and move on to the next achievement, so as much as possible, try to achieve your challenges, even if you need help or advice from others.
The second type of failure, more focused on the work environment, is to finish or deliver something and that others do not appreciate its value, or directly do not use it because you did not understand what they needed or you were not up to the task.
Ricardo tells us about a recent project he was involved in, focused on the refactoring of an educational web product. Despite the efforts to evolve technologically and differentiate in the market, the project did not meet the initial expectations.
FuNCan you briefly describe the project/initiative you worked on that ultimately failed?
Ricardo: We recently worked on refactoring a web product about education, which needed a technological evolution in order to add the new functionalities they needed to differentiate themselves from others.
FuNWhat were your initial objectives and expectations for this project/initiative?
Ricardo: The objective, as we understood and as we proposed, was to change the technology of the current product while maintaining the same functionalities except for a very specific improvement related to data analytics, which was our greatest added value, and then in other phases, to continue incorporating new functionalities for the management of students and classes.
The client's expectations were much more ambitious.
FuNCan you describe the market conditions and trends in the sector in which the company operated before the failure of this project/initiative?
Ricardo: The client was selling its product to different sectors of public and private education. Here in Spain the school year ends approximately in mid-June and starts in mid-September, and our client's commercial window was between May and June.
We started the project in mid-January, with seemingly enough time to get to the commercial window with the work completed.
The failed project had significant financial repercussions for both parties, with duplicated effort and an unsatisfactory end product. Ricardo acknowledges that the lack of effective communication and absence of leadership were warning signs that went unnoticed.
FuNDid the company's financial results contribute to the ultimate failure? If so, how?
Ricardo: Yes, since my company ended up dedicating more than twice as much effort as initially agreed, and my client arrived at the end of his commercial window, and without a quality product.
FuN: Can you identify any red flags or red flags that the company/team management has overlooked or ignored?
Ricardo: That I was blind or deaf to the project was not a red flag, but that the team and the client were mute should have been. The client went crazy asking for things without paying attention to the project's objectives, and the team, in the absence of a leader on our side, followed the client's whims as they came to mind. The client, mute for a long time because he was delighted, and the team, completely unconcerned about deadlines, also delighted at the client's happiness.
One of the key lessons Ricardo highlights is the importance of clear and detailed communication at every stage of a project. Both his team and the client were guilty of assuming they were on the same page, which led to misunderstandings and deviations along the way.
This failure, although painful, served as a turning point in Ricardo's career. From this experience, he committed to approach future projects with greater rigor and attention to detail, avoiding underestimating the complexity of each challenge.
FuNHow did the company/team management and organizational culture influence the failure of the initiative/project?
Ricardo: The company made two mistakes: that the leaders did not have time to lead, and that they did not dedicate the necessary time to carry out the assessments of the projects, in this case the project was small and that is why they did not dedicate this time, but it caused a significant economic hole on both sides.
Ricardo did not hesitate to share the lessons learned with his team and company management. Although the situation generated tensions, the focus on learning and continuous improvement prevailed.
FuNWhat were the key strategic decisions made by the company that may have led to the failure of the project/initiative?
Ricardo: On our side we made a poor and not very detailed proposal of what we were going to do, since we were confident enough to do the job in a short time, and besides, the client was an old acquaintance of great confidence so it was not necessary to make an effort in the sales process or to cover our backs with small print.
On the client's side, there was also no demand for a more exhaustive definition of the product they were going to get for the money they were paying.
We all thought we were on the same wavelength talking verbally, and no one was interested in formalizing the objectives correctly.
Also, especially on my part, thinking that this project was clear to the team and was very simple to understand and undertake, and in a moment of personal overflow, I decided to delegate to the team, spending more than two months without anyone telling me any doubts or problems, neither from the team nor from the client.
FuNDid you share what you learned with other teams in your organization? What was the reaction of the other people involved?
Ricardo: It was shared both with the team and with the management, there were moments of great tension for all of us, because we could have ruined the client, for not seeing the end of the project and for the high economic deviation that it meant for my company (two and a half times more work days than the client paid for).
I will not be the first or the last to fall into this situation. In my case, it was a necessary failure that made me take the project analysis phases more seriously from now on, sometimes even asking the most obvious questions to get confirmation and put it in writing.
FuNHow can your story help other managers/leaders/entrepreneurs?
Ricardo: Make sure you have been understood, and you have understood, the best thing to do is to put it in writing and share it.
Putting things in writing will back you up, whoever does not read it and later disagrees or has a distorted memory, will be the one with the problem, not you.
Delegating and trusting your team is fine and absolutely necessary, but it requires governance and monitoring that things are done as you expect, otherwise it is not delegating, it is disengaging from the task.
This is a very common mistake even among the best leaders who have to cover more than they can. If you can't handle everything and it's up to you, reduce and focus on what you can realistically handle, and if it's not up to you but to your manager, at least let him know about the situation, if he doesn't take action, the failure will be his responsibility and not yours.
[This failure] helped me to carry out future projects with higher quality and not to underestimate even the smallest and simplest one.
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Applying our Failure Management methodology, we detected that the following errors were determinant in the failure of the project and the antidotes that serve as lessons learned to avoid similar situations that lead to failures and preventable errors in the future.
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Edited by
Raquel Rojas
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Let's transform our perception of failure and use it as a catalyst for growth.
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