Failure isn't the Problem. Skipping the Evaluation Is.

In this episode, Jonathan Malm and Jason Young unpack Chapter 6 of How to Get a Return on Failure by John Maxwell, walking through Maxwell's practical "cycle of improvement" and making the case that it's not failure itself that makes you better, it's what you do with it. Jonathan opens up about his current season of experimenting with AI coding (including building a video game with Claude Code and a live display system for his coworking space). Jason gets honest about the temptation to make too many improvements all at once and why small, compounding tweaks almost always beat sweeping overhauls.In this episode, you'll learn:The 6-step cycle of improvement: test, fail, evaluate, learn, improve, and re-enter and where most leaders get stuckWhy "evaluated experience" is a better teacher than experience aloneThe dangerous gap between learning a lesson and actually incorporating itHow to know if you're operating with a fixed mindset or a growth mindset and why it determines everythingWhy the best churches don't chase growth. They pursue excellence until growth is demandedWhat Chick-fil-A's Truett Cathy has to say to every church obsessed with getting biggerWhy re-entering after failure takes more courage than the original attempt and why it's non-negotiablePlus Jonathan reflects on what it means to unlearn the wrong lessons from failure, and Jason drops a free tool (the Failure Debrief Loop) you can use with yourself and your team.Download the free Failure Debrief Loop at churchstaffbookclub.com