Briefly detail the scenario and describe what you learned. Your interviewers have been in your shoes, and they do not expect perfection. However, they do expect you to know how to reflect, determine what can be learned from the experience, and take steps to avoid a similar situation in the future. Focus on that aspect of the story rather than any mistakes you may have made.

If you happen to be one of the few individuals who have never experienced failure in the workplace, be sure to maintain a humble spirit and outline your plan for addressing a failure scenario should one occur in your future. Interviewers are likely to view those unwilling to expand on the subject as perfectionists. While that can sometimes be positive, it may not be the best fit for an educational experience focused on the development of innovative risk-takers such as those who graduate from MIT.

I am currently a program manager, but I began my career as an analyst. I was assigned to my first project and gathered the requirements for the system we were building from the subject matter experts I was directed to work with. While I felt that some of the requirements would potentially cause problems, I pushed them forward into the development phase of the project because they were given to me by senior-level staff who were designated as experts. I did not feel comfortable questioning their direction, and my team built the solution as designed. As you may have guessed, the initial product release ultimately failed.

I met with the end users who were disappointed with what we had delivered. I learned that they had important needs that were not properly represented in the requirements-gathering process. Furthermore, I learned that there were political issues amongst the various user and managerial groups that affected the success of the product.

At that stage in my career, I was not yet savvy enough to know exactly how to navigate the complex environment I was working in. I immediately sought out a mentor and ultimately gained the confidence and skills necessary to gather all of the information necessary to build the best possible products. I shifted from an order taker to a true analyst and system designer who had the analytical and leadership skills to help businesses meet their digital transformation goals. I use the lessons I learned on that project daily in my role as a senior program manager, and I look forward to taking my analytical and leadership skills to the next level here at MIT.