Name: Ways to success: Fail fast and fail forward
Uploaded: 2022-02-15T18:14:02.110Z
Duration: 205.75
Description: Many experts receive career guidance throughout their professional lives. Some of it is excellent; others might not be so practical. But in some cases, it may be extremely helpful. Whether you get advice from a mentor or a colleague, it can help you to change how you approach your work and the path you choose. Anna Estlund and Christian Kurz share their valuable experiences.

Ways to success_ Fail fast and fail forward.vtt

English

{{00:00:30}}
What advice would you give your younger
self if you were looking back and

{{00:00:33}}
you were able to speak to you from
the future around your role and kind

{{00:00:37}}
of where you're at in your career?

{{00:00:38}}
I've been incredibly lucky that.

{{00:00:41}}
Everything that I've ever put my mind
to, I actually managed to achieve.

{{00:00:45}}
So I don't think there's much that
I would be doing differently, but my

{{00:00:49}}
general advice for people would be
hang in there, figure out what it is.

{{00:00:53}}
It's not that failure is
not an option, failure is

{{00:00:56}}
always a learning experience.

{{00:00:58}}
So this whole idea, again, from
the tech world, fail fast and

{{00:01:02}}
fail often, fail quickly, I
think that applies to people too.

{{00:01:05}}
It's like, try it.

{{00:01:06}}
If it works, great.

{{00:01:07}}
If it doesn't work, try the next.

{{00:01:09}}
It's that constant recalibration and
obviously being open and learning.

{{00:01:13}}
The world is changing so quickly.

{{00:01:16}}
I read the stat from, I think it
was from the UN or the OACD or

{{00:01:19}}
something, that 70% of the jobs that
the preschoolers today are going to

{{00:01:24}}
be working in, do not exist today.

{{00:01:27}}
Well that means we have to all be open
and thinking about things differently.

{{00:01:31}}
And I think that's the
really most important thing.

{{00:01:38}}
If I had to pick one, so I started my
career in marketing, sports marketing.

{{00:01:43}}
Loved it.

{{00:01:45}}
But as I made the transition to
insights, I think I really focused

{{00:01:49}}
a lot on becoming a research expert.

{{00:01:53}}
How do you, at the time it was like
really leading deep qual research,

{{00:01:57}}
so how do I just be a really
good moderator and facilitator?

{{00:02:00}}
And then it was more of okay, how
do I know how to run these different

{{00:02:04}}
quant tests as I did different roles.

{{00:02:06}}
And I had a general sense of the
business, General Mills, at the time of

{{00:02:10}}
okay, what are our big business units?

{{00:02:11}}
What are our big brands?

{{00:02:12}}
And like that high level understanding.

{{00:02:15}}
What I wish I would have done
earlier is not only try to be a

{{00:02:18}}
research expert, but really deeply
understand the business drivers.

{{00:02:24}}
So more so on that business
intelligence side, which wasn't

{{00:02:27}}
where I started my career and I've
led teams there since, but I wish

{{00:02:30}}
earlier I would've sat down with
my business intelligence team,

{{00:02:33}}
sat down with my finance team and
said, walk me through just like

{{00:02:37}}
how the profit margins work in this
business unit and for the company.

{{00:02:40}}
What are the profit drivers, and
therefore, where does the money flow?

{{00:02:43}}
What has happened over time
with the brand that we've seen?

{{00:02:48}}
Not just like the weekly
reports that we get.

{{00:02:51}}
I think I had awesome advice
when I was a senior associate

{{00:02:54}}
at General Mills from a manager
who encouraged me to do that.

{{00:02:57}}
And it just opened up so
many doors for me, honestly.

{{00:03:00}}
And I just wish I would've done it
a bit earlier, instead of trying

{{00:03:04}}
to be so much of a research expert.

{{00:03:05}}
I think that's a piece of it.

{{00:03:06}}
But again, back to driving action,
that's what your stakeholders are

{{00:03:10}}
looking at to drive decisions.

{{00:03:12}}
And so to then take that base
understanding and layer on top the why

{{00:03:15}}
and the so what all of that, I think
would have made me a stronger earlier.

What advice would you give your younger
self if you were looking back and

you were able to speak to you from
the future around your role and kind

Everything that I've ever put my mind
to, I actually managed to achieve.

So I don't think there's much that
I would be doing differently, but my

general advice for people would be
hang in there, figure out what it is.

It's not that failure is
not an option, failure is

So this whole idea, again, from
the tech world, fail fast and

fail often, fail quickly, I
think that applies to people too.

It's that constant recalibration and
obviously being open and learning.

I read the stat from, I think it
was from the UN or the OACD or

something, that 70% of the jobs that
the preschoolers today are going to

Well that means we have to all be open
and thinking about things differently.

And I think that's the
really most important thing.

If I had to pick one, so I started my
career in marketing, sports marketing.

But as I made the transition to
insights, I think I really focused

How do you, at the time it was like
really leading deep qual research,

so how do I just be a really
good moderator and facilitator?

And then it was more of okay, how
do I know how to run these different

And I had a general sense of the
business, General Mills, at the time of

What I wish I would have done
earlier is not only try to be a

research expert, but really deeply
understand the business drivers.

So more so on that business
intelligence side, which wasn't

where I started my career and I've
led teams there since, but I wish

earlier I would've sat down with
my business intelligence team,

sat down with my finance team and
said, walk me through just like

how the profit margins work in this
business unit and for the company.

What are the profit drivers, and
therefore, where does the money flow?

What has happened over time
with the brand that we've seen?

Not just like the weekly
reports that we get.

I think I had awesome advice
when I was a senior associate

at General Mills from a manager
who encouraged me to do that.

And it just opened up so
many doors for me, honestly.

And I just wish I would've done it
a bit earlier, instead of trying

But again, back to driving action,
that's what your stakeholders are

And so to then take that base
understanding and layer on top the why

and the so what all of that, I think
would have made me a stronger earlier.

Best Practice

Many experts receive career guidance throughout their professional lives. Some of it is excellent; others might not be so practical. But in some cases, it may be extremely helpful.
Whether you get advice from a mentor or a colleague, it can help you to change how you approach your work and the path you choose. Anna Estlund and Christian Kurz share their valuable experiences. 

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thumbnail_Anna Estlund.jfif

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Anna Estlund.jfif

Anna Estlund

 Director of Insights 

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Chrisitan Kurz.jfif

Christian Kurz

SVP, Global Streaming & Corporate InsightS

It is possible to win through losing. Failure allows you to learn from your mistakes, and many leaders fail on their journey to the top. Kurz agrees and highlights the significance of being receptive to new information.


Fail fast, fail often

Estlund's professional advice is to focus not only on being a market research expert, but also on deeply understanding the business drivers by connecting different functions in the company.