We learn in two ways: through Information and through Transformation. Transformational learning can be very helpful in the process of developing your business—ie. Pay attention to what you are learning through your experiences.
One transformational experience I have had in the past few years involves managing people on projects. It's easy to see when someone is telling you something they don't believe in. You can usually see it in their eyes. I reacted fairly negatively when I saw a situation that I knew had no easy solution. The project team had built an LDAP-based authentication layer into our solution as a "black box". You just plug it in and it should work. Of course, it didn't work out that way. When I found out from the tech lead, I had a melt down and told them to "finish it by Wednesday or else."
My tech lead started crying at my insistent attitude. The programming team made it work by Wednesday, but I can assure you that the resulting work was not without its own share of bugs. We're still identifying them as we go. The house was not built on a solid foundation.
This issue could have been handled better by simply enabling the team to identify what they could do and by what time in small increments. We could also have a regular, more SCRUM-like, approach to getting to "done." No need for recriminations -- I am sure there was something I could have done as the project sponsor to get them to "done" in a more productive and less stressful way. This was a transformation for me, and ever since I've decided to avoid a "do it or else attitude" towards anything. You never get what you want. This was a transformation for me -- care to share yours? Leave a comment for us to share your transformations below.