Do You Reward Failure?

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2011

Do You Reward FailUre?

Get used to it: Failure is part of innovation!

Although failing isn't comfortable,

 it can be one of the smartest team dynamics for any leader's portfolio.

(If your team never fails, U Fail as a leader...)

A team without ideas - and failures - ends up working in a "factory" of mundane and predictable results.

In his excellent book, The Medici Effect, Frans Johansson says:

Reward Failure:

• make sure people are aware that failure to execute ideas is the greatest failure, and will be punished
• make sure everyone learns from past failures; do not reward the same mistakes over and over again
• If people show low failure rates, be suspicious.  Maybe they are not taking enough risks, or maybe they are hiding their mistakes, rather than allowing others in the organization to learn from them
• Hire people who have had intelligent failures and let others in the organization know that's one reason they were hired.

Ideas happen at "intersections" - generated through the explosion of concept combinations.  Some of those ideas will fail - others won't!

Find a frozen seat by the shores of the Lake, take 5 to appreciate nature's creative "mistakes" (and your leadership style!).

PS:  Did you read last week's 2 part long blog yet?