Raj was awakened by a rather shocking e-mail that day. Being the project manager, he is used to having his smartphone at the bedside every day. That day, when the notification tone woke him up, he scrolled through a dozen of unread e-mails and noticed one that was marked Important. It was from the project manager of a prospective client company, stating they did not like the prototype that Raj's team has worked on. Raj was shocked and disappointed to see this. He and his team has burned the midnight oil for six months to come up with this prototype. The clients not liking the prototype also meant that their fewer chances of them continuing with the project. All the work, analysis they did, and the hardships started flashing in Raj's mind now. He was a little short of bursting into tears. 

Simar, Raj's wife was observing all this. She understood that Raj was visibly very upset. She did not want to probe him for more details. She just waited till he came to a state where he could speak out a few words. Eventually, he did so, after twenty minutes. He said, "Simar! Everything went into vain. I do not know what to answer to my higher management as well as my team. I just don’t want to log in to work today. This is a disaster!". He also explained all the remaining details.

Simar calmly heard this and simply said, "I am sorry that things turned out the way you did not expect them to be. But I have a few questions for you.

1. Does this guarantee they would never work with you again? Maybe you could modify or re-do the prototype and present it. Did you think of that?
2. If ever they go back and do not need your services, why would you think this whole time was a waste? I think it is a wonderful experience for you and your team members. As a service-based company, wins and losses both would be there. One loss would not strike off all your previous experiences as a lead team member. Try to think of what projects you would like to work on, in the future.

Raj now calmed down a bit and started to understand every word that Simar spoke. She did speak the truth. There were so many of his fellow managers who had equal shares of gains and losses. He was very much sure his organisation wouldn't mind if they had one loss after all the effort. He then realised two very important things. He was just brooding over the past. He should rather #focus on what steps he must take in the present such as making corrections to the prototype, negotiating with clients, etc. He could also think and #focus on the future projects he could work on, steps to be taken to avoid such mishaps etc.

Aren't most of us always living in the past instead of focusing on things at hand?

What in particular do you think would help Raj at the moment to handle the situation better?

• First of all, quickly recovering from damage/mistake and thinking way forward, corrective measures and learnings it gave.
• Focusing on what alternatives steps to be taken probably rectify, research and repair, if possible
• Analysing what could have been better in first attempt.
• Focusing on the future projects, keeping in mind the lessons learned from this project
• All of the above