Comments on: Do You Need a Failure Target?

By: Library clips :: The emergence of Serendipity 2.0 and Innovation 2.0 :: October :: 2008

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:52:10 +0000

[...] [ADDED 05/04/09: Do You Need a Failure Target?] [...]

By: Mary Walker

Mary Walker — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:05:28 +0000

Scott Berkun talks a lot of about this -- actions/techniques to create space / aircover in the workplace for people to innovate (which inevitably involves a lot of "failure"). I was at Scott's O'Reilly seminar earlier this week -- great stuff -- http://www.scottberkun.com/

(btw I just followed you on Twitter -- found you via @johnt's twitter stream).

By: Wendy Reynolds

Wendy Reynolds — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:33:58 +0000

I've had the luxury of working in a team where experimentation is actively encouraged. It's so freeing to know that, if you decide that the idea you bashed around is not developing the way you thought it would, you can safely pull the plug, document what you tried and why you think it didn't work, and move on. No recriminations. You can then take what you learned in that experiment into your next one, or the one after that. Brainstorming sessions are wildly fun, rather than an exercise in managing expectations -everyone knows we're indulging in flights of fancy, rather than making a commitment to a fail-safe project.

Of course, this only works when you experiment with small ideas (as noted above).

By: Janet

Janet — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:34:21 +0000

My favorite quote of the day: “when … trying to avoid failure at all costs, all you really manage to avoid is innovation.” Thanks!

By: VMaryAbraham

VMaryAbraham — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:02:50 +0000

From John Tropea, this link to Snippets from Clay Shirky's book, Here Comes Everybody: http://johntropea.tumblr.com/post/85144573/here...

By: VMaryAbraham

VMaryAbraham — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:43:33 +0000

Too true, Greg. Thanks for the reminder about how basic this is and how early we start socializing people to run from failure — and innovation.

- Mary

By: Greg Walters

Greg Walters — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:18:22 +0000

It all starts when we they don't keep score at the kids football games.

Losing or getting knocked down isn't as bad as never learning you can get back up.