Failure is a strong foundation for the culture of innovation. Without failure we you never know what does not work. It is not just about bouncing back from failure it is about embracing failure.
Pushing anything beyond the known means fumbling. When babies learn to walk they will fall. They can only get better at the walking thing through the experience of falling. It is each experience of attempt that strengthens their muscles. They are not dissuaded by failure.
They are not deterred from wanting to do better than they did at their previous attempt. Leaders, teams and organizations at large need to find the baby in them in order to build a culture of innovation.
It means you’re never going to have a handle of everything. Great leaders know that they are times they will not know. There are also times they have to be messy in their quest for innovation.
Brace yourself for nothing to go perfect as you shatter the status quo.
Leaders are failure facilitators [Click to Tweet]
Leaders are responsible for building the test tube for failure. They are responsible for pushing their teams to fail. After failure they are responsible for facilitating learning.
Create opportunities for your team to share how they tried to push the boundaries of the status quo and what they learned. Give failure awards.
The leader’s role includes picking up the team from failure and helping them appreciate the significance of it. Teams and leaders that are too afraid to fail play it safe. Fear is what causes people to nurture the status quo.
When fear prevails, innovation dies. Freedom to fail is the foundation of innovation [Click to Tweet]
It is impossible to not know what works well until you discover what does not. In building a culture of innovation | failure is both inevitable and necessary.
Encourage failure. Facilitate failure. Glean from failure and grow from it. Be bold. Be /ˈherətik/.
Related:
Building A Culture Of Innovation | IDEAS
Building A Culture Of Innovation | TOGETHER