Let’s face it, we’ve all had our fair share of failures, myself included. For every idea or venture that takes off, I’ve had others that never saw the light of day—or crashed once they did. And honestly, I’m fine with that. Failures are a foregone conclusion for any business; it’s what you do with them that counts. It’s really nothing new to stress the importance of learning from failure to build success. But I think we can take that idea one step further. I’m talking about willfully creating and cultivating a “culture of failure” within a company.
Don’t misunderstand me: a culture of failure shouldn’t be confused with a drive towards failure. The risk when running a large company is for leaders to get caught up in the minutiae of day-to-day operations and be tempted to manage for continuity—to play it safe. But why on Earth should taking calculated risks be a bad thing?
Failing through risk-taking
Whereas playing it safe can foster continuity and mediocrity, seismic innovations can arise only by taking risks, by not fearing failure.
Now, I’m not advocating taking risks for risk’s sake, but remember that there are many ways to learn something new. Failure is one such way. Did you know the invention of the modern pacemaker in the 1950s was a complete accident? A lifelong inventor and tinkerer, Wilson Greatbatch was trying to design a device that could record heart sounds. By installing the wrong transistor, he happened to create one that emitted a pulse that could be used to regulate heartbeats and save countless lives. If you compare the initial objective with the outcome, this is an utter failure—but what a great one!
So what’s the role for managers within this culture of failure? You can’t catch serendipity in a bottle, but you can help create an environment that’s more conducive to it. Fail by example—experiment, take new, calculated risks, propose daring ideas, encourage creativity at every level. If risk-taking is harnessed correctly, it can drive massive change within a company. It definitely takes time, energy and enthusiasm, but the return on investment can be outstanding.
Failing by playing it (too) safe
Often, today’s corporate and cultural barriers work to maintain the “play it safe” attitude that inhibits so-called “intrapraneurs” from testing ideas or proposals. Whenever I lead or work with a team, it’s up to me to break this risk-averse cycle, and it’s one of the most challenging aspects of my job. Being overly risk-averse puts a damper on creative thinking and prevents happy accidents. Don’t put all your faith in incessant testing and modelling—or playing it too safe. Instead, embrace a culture of failure that should be seen for what it truly has the potential to be: a driver of innovation and serendipity.
Failure in action
Make experimentation a part of how your company works. You will need a strong support system and a structure for ideas. Make sure that your employees have time to let their minds roam and think outside the box. And if they do fail (as they surely will), make sure it leads to new lessons learned for the entire organisation. Remember past failures and bring them up often—not to shame people or their ideas, but to make sure everyone understands what went wrong and where to go from there. These experiences will form the basis for progress going forward and deliver tangible “returns on intelligence.” Fail often but fail well!
This is, to me, an essential part of the winning mindset: if we’re passionate, we’re not content to “just do our job.” We want to go above and beyond. When that is your goal, failing is a normal part of any attempt to surpass what you’ve set out to do. Failures should consequently be seen as evidence of the most powerful driving force in business: passion.