Failing to Succeed: Leveraging Failure to Improve and Innovate

To err is human, to forgive divine.

~Alexander Pope

Although organizations are frequently encouraged to learn from their failures, it is “extraordinarily rare” to find those that do this well. Despite best intentions, many do not truly understand how to conceptualize learning from failure in a constructive way. Failure is often perceived as “bad” and to be avoided at all costs. Determining blame is a common first strategy and situational analyses just skim the surface. In organizational cultures that embrace these approaches, mistakes and failures are often hidden, sometimes leading to catastrophic consequences. Even when the stakes are low, these approaches stymie innovation and impede process improvement. For organizations to thrive, they need to create cultures in which failures are embraced, analyzed, and leveraged. Inspired and informed by the work of Amy Edmondson from the Harvard Business School and other scientists from the Science of Team Science, this session will challenge common conceptualizations about failure and discuss best practices for reframing. To do this, we will examine case studies involving examples of failures common to teams, explore constructive ways to learn from these experiences, and experiment with skills to derive wisdom for future success.

Participants in this workshop will:

1. Challenge and re-frame thinking about failure
2. Experiment with evidence-based skills and strategies to
   1. Create standard processes for error detection
   2. Conduct deep analyses when mistakes occur
   3. Foster cultures in which experimentation is celebrated
3. Extend lessons learned to the teams within their organizations

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