Learning from Jenson Button in Challenging Times:

At the end of the Formula 1 opening race in Australia where former world champion Jenson Button came in last in the McLaren Honda, he said,
(http://www.planet-f1.com/…/55…/37105/Sun-McLaren-Lotus-Manor)

“There were more positives: we’re as quick as the Force Indias in the corners, and we look similar in speed through the corners to the Red Bulls and Saubers, too. It’s been a tough winter – our longest run in testing was just 12 laps, so today’s 58-lap run was a good step forward – but we know we’ve got a lot of work to do. But, with all of today’s learning, there are many areas we can improve for the next race.”

Honda returned to F1 as an enginer supplier to McLaren this year. They are, at present, the worse performing engine, suffering from reliability and power issue. It was obvious to all the real cause of McLaren lack of performance. Under such challenging partnership times, we can learn a few things from Button.

1. Look at the positives.
2. No need to point out the lack of performance of the other party.

A typical reaction for failure is to find out and point out who is at fault. If one party starts to do that, the partnership will be broken. To get the partnership to go well, it is important for mutual encouragement, understanding and trust. So, if we are tempted to find faults and blame others, we can take the opposite approach of looking for the positives and bringing hope and encouragement to continue. It does not mean we ignore the faults but that all have a positive and hopeful approach to find and fix the faults. The positive environment will lead to greater creative ideas and energy to fix the problems and make good progress.