#7: What defines success?
“Success is rarely a straightforward path… It comes in many different forms and will look different depending on the context. That context will continually shift and change because people and societies aren’t static.”
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Success is such an interesting word to define. In a world that seems to yell that success is measured by the outwardly tangible, it’s easy to become hyper-focused on what we can physically see to define whether we, and what we do, are successful or not.
Not long ago I was asked to speak to a group of secondary students about how I had entered into the realm of non-profit work. I was asked to share about a few of the projects I had worked on and talk about ensuring success in project implementation. In the realm of business, we measure it by meeting KPIs, through M&E processes, increased revenue, growth of a company, etc. In education, we measure it through rubrics, test scores, GPAs, college acceptance rates, etc. Yet, are these the sole criteria for success?
I had to smile when I saw that I was to talk about ensuring success; as an educator, one of the many quotes I had posted in my room said, “Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success”. Another poster I had in my classroom said that if you failed at what you were attempting to do, you were in good company- and then gave 4 icons in history that were ultimately successful but not without hundreds of “failures” beforehand. In my classes, failures were celebrated just as much as success because without them, success wasn’t guaranteed.
Returning to the group of students I was asked to speak to, I shared that often in program development, a program’s success is defined by the ability to answer the following questions:
What is the end goal that I am seeking?
What does success look like in the context that I am working in?
In an environment where success is often based on who has the highest achievements, strongest GPA, and has earned the most awards, I wanted these students to understand that every project I’ve worked on had a different matrix for success. Some, while outwardly seemingly successful because all KPIs were met, continually struggled with the same issues for years. Others gave the appearance that progress was limited, but as a team they were continually pivoting and growing together as they met their challenges head on.
Success comes in many different forms and will look different depending on the context. That context will continually shift and change because people and societies aren’t static.
In an earlier post I shared a strategy I used to guide students in creating collaborative teams. Was a team ever unsuccessful using that method? That depends on how you measure success.
In one instance, out of 30 teams, 1 formed that I knew from the start was going to have immense difficulty. It was a group of 3 that I knew should never be put together. They struggled the entire time because they would not communicate- period after period, they’d sit in stony silence, working on a shared document. Each insisted on doing their own part and refused to accept any feedback from one another. Each period we’d conference and they’d say things like, “I don’t believe in teamwork because I don’t like that person” or “I don’t want to collaborate- my ideas are better” ….
When time came to present their final product, there were obvious issues and the final product didn’t turn out as they hoped.
If you don’t take the time and space to evaluate, reflect, and refine, you will be limited in the success you have.
#7:
What defines success?
Our last conference session was this team’s opportunity to share their personal feedback and reflections. All of them shared similar takeaways:
Their largest takeaway from this experience was their realization in the importance of communication; a lot of their issues stemmed from their non-verbal communication which set the tone for their verbal communication.
They realized that while they didn’t like one another, a person doesn’t have to like someone to work with them; however, you DO have to respect them.
Once you respect a person and are willing to put yourself to the side for a moment, it’s easier to tap into their strengths; this is what allowed this them to successfully complete their product.
Returning to the question: What defines success?
Outwardly it would appear that this team was not successful.
In fact, their peers gave them a lot of feedback about the challenges they had faced and how they could do better in the future.
As the teacher, I could have stepped in to ensure ‘success’. At any time I could have moved them to new teams but I didn’t. I could have split the work out and told them to work individually on the assignment, but I didn’t.
I didn’t because I had seen similar challenges when they worked in other teams.
I didn’t because I saw areas that they needed to grow in.
Was this team successful?
Well, these 3 students walked away with the following:
The soft skills they grew in far outweighed any rubric I gave. Their self awareness of the challenges they faced in this project surprised even themselves; they took ownership of their pitfalls, both present and identified past projects where they had experienced similar challenges
The next team they work with will benefit from this experience as they will continue to grow in their ability to communicate, verbally and non-verbally
As individuals, they had grown in their ability to collaborate with others around them, even if it wasn’t their first choice for a teammate; they now understood that for collaboration to occur, it starts with respect towards others.
It's crucial to recognize that success is rarely a straight path defined by our initial visions.
Often, the most impactful achievements are the non-tangible ones—those moments of personal growth and invaluable lessons learned. These subtle successes, though they may go unnoticed at first, are the building blocks that allow us to navigate future challenges with greater resilience and clarity.
So how do we define success?
My hope is that we will encourage and embrace both the visible and non-visible victories, recognizing and appreciating the full spectrum of what success truly means.
And yes, I would say that this team ended with a success.
