Apparently, and as we can observe, a manager may sometimes decide to undertake a task and prepare the necessary conditions and prerequisites for its success, yet fail to accomplish it. Perhaps this is something that every manager inevitably encounters. Not everything we undertake will necessarily be completed or achieve the desired outcome; we may fail to accomplish it. If that is the case, what should we do? Should we stop?

The answer is, certainly not. So, what is the solution, and what should we do?

As a solution, we must establish a principle: our determination should not weaken when we encounter obstacles or circumstances that prevent us from successfully completing our work. We must then analyze the reason for the failure, and this analysis must be accurate and objective.

One sound basis for analysis is to identify the possible causes of failure. We can say:

First: It may be due to shortcomings on the part of your team.

Second: The idea you presented may be repetitive and common, so others did not respond to it.

Third: You yourself may be the reason. How so?

If we examine these reasons carefully, we will conclude that the last one—the manager himself—is often the central cause. This is because some people try to sit alone and think things through in order to arrive at conclusions. However, these conclusions may be undesirable because of the premises they considered or the plans they developed in their minds. This may be because they lack the principles of sound and precise thinking, or because they did not consult those working with them in the administration or proposed project.

Such a manager may seek to receive the praise and appreciation alone and attempt to attribute everything to himself by keeping the details of the project hidden from his team. He does not explain the project's details or scope; instead, he simply orders them to carry it out. If they implement the project without understanding its details, while the project itself is immature and incomplete in its various aspects because he did not involve the specialists on his team in establishing its foundations, then he has brought failure upon himself and caused the work to collapse.

It is narrated from the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace be upon him):

“Whoever acts independently according to his own opinion will perish, and whoever consults with others shares in their intellect.”

Unfortunately, this characteristic is often found among some officials and managers. The greater problem and harm arise when such a person is criticized for his failure: he absolves himself of responsibility and attempts to blame others for the failure, without treating them fairly—even though he himself is the root of the problem resulting from his method of handling matters.

In this regard, our narrations mention that one of the praiseworthy qualities in a person is to be fair to people even when judging himself. It is narrated from Abu Ja‘far (peace be upon him), who said that the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) stated in one of his speeches:

“Indeed, whoever is fair to people even at his own expense, Allah will increase him in honor.”

Therefore, the successful head of a department, division, center, or university is one who consults his team, because the work belongs to all of them. One of them may suggest an idea that had escaped his attention. None of us can encompass every matter, regardless of how intelligent, knowledgeable, or experienced we may be in our field of work and specialization. Some details will inevitably escape us, while one of our team members may be able to recognize them. The team, as a whole, consists of individuals who complement one another, and in this way we greatly increase our chances of success.

Here, we have an important principle that we apply to every project:

“Either we succeed, or we succeed.”

This is the motto we usually raise in our work, and according to it, we work with all our energy so that we do not fail. But if we say, “Either we succeed or we fail,” we are effectively giving failure a 50% possibility, whereas in the first case, we give failure a zero percent possibility.

Naturally, and quite possibly, failure may occur in our work. However, it may be limited to 5% or 10%, which is an acceptable level of failure relative to the nature and scale of the work. From the beginning, I have built the project on the assumption of success and prepared all its components and prerequisites, starting with the initial discussions, clarity, listening to opinions, and involving the team, and continuing through the tools, mechanisms, and people required for implementation. These are the real foundations of success.