- Joshua Ehrenreich
5 Ways to Fail More Intelligently
When reading about psychological safety and design thinking you can't help but read about failure. Failure is a cornerstone of any work (or life!) environment that embraces these concepts.
I'm currently designing an interactive digital-first workshop on failure, but I just couldn't wait to share some of the tips and strategies I've been uncovering to better learn from failures.
Check out below for some practical tips and exercises to fail more intelligently! Questions on any slides? Ask away!
Slide transcripts
Five Strategies to Fail More Intelligently 1 25 Joshua Ehrenreich www.joshehr.com
Failure is not a bug of learning, —Rachel Simmons Leadership Development @ Smith College’s Wurtele Center for Work and Life it’s the feature.
1/5 Decide on what failure and success look like before you launch
Transparency is key
2/5 Reduce uncertainty ahead of time
Step 1 Brainstorm Source: Assumptions and Questions—IBM Enterprise Design Thinking toolkit https://www.ibm.com/ design/thinking/page/toolkit/activity/assumptions- and-questions/
Step 2 Map to grid Source: Assumptions and Questions—IBM Enterprise Design Thinking toolkit https://www.ibm.com/ design/thinking/page/toolkit/activity/assumptions- and-questions/
Step 3 Ideate means to resolve high-risk, high uncertainty Source: Assumptions and Questions—IBM Enterprise Design Thinking toolkit https://www.ibm.com/ design/thinking/page/toolkit/activity/assumptions- and-questions/
3/5 Fail cheap, fail fast
Is the pilot being tested under typical circumstances (rather than optimal conditions)? Source: Strategies for Learning from Failure—Amy Edmondson https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure 6 question to see if your pilot is well designed
Do the employees, customers, and resources represent the firm’s real operating environment? Source: Strategies for Learning from Failure—Amy Edmondson https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure
Is the goal of the pilot to learn as much as possible (rather than to demonstrate the value of the proposed offering)? Source: Strategies for Learning from Failure—Amy Edmondson https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure 6 questions to see if your pilot is well designed
Is the goal of learning well understood by all employees and managers? Source: Strategies for Learning from Failure—Amy Edmondson https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure 6 questions to see if your pilot is well designed
Is it clear that compensation and performance reviews are not based on a successful outcome for the pilot? Source: Strategies for Learning from Failure—Amy Edmondson https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure 6 question to see if your pilot is well designed
Were explicit changes made as a result of the pilot test? Source: Strategies for Learning from Failure—Amy Edmondson https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure 6 questions to see if your pilot is well designed
4/5 Capture and share what you learn
What You Gained What You Spent Return on Failure
Project Review Sheet Source: Increase Your Return on Failure—Julian Birkinshaw and Martine Haas https://hbr.org/2016/05/increase-your-return-on-failure Make it easy and quick to examine projects
5/5Respond productively
Express Appreciation
Destigmatize Failing Express Appreciation
Routine Complex Frontier Source: Strategies for Learning from Failure—Amy Edmondson https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure Failure occurs on a spectrum
Process Deviance Inattention Lack of Ability Routine Complex Frontier Source: Strategies for Learning from Failure—Amy Edmondson https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure
Is the pilot being tested under typical circumstances (rather than optimal conditions)? Source: Strategies for Learning from Failure—Amy Edmondson https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure 6 questions to see if your pilot is well designede
Process Deviance Inattention Lack of Ability Process Inadequacy Process Complexity Uncertainty Hypothesis Testing Exploratory Testing Challenge of Task Routine Complex Frontier Source: Strategies for Learning from Failure—Amy Edmondson https://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure
Express Appreciation Destigmatize Failing Sanction Clear Violations
So, if you want to learn more from failure Try utilizing these five strategies
Decide on what failure and success look like before you launch Reduce uncertainty ahead of time Fail cheap, fail fast Capture and share what you learn Respond productively
Now go mess something up, and learn something