Is fear of failure holding back innovation in Sri Lanka?
“Innovation” has become a corporate buzz word today. Everyone is talking about innovation – but how many companies have a culture that encourages innovation? How many companies truly celebrate the learning that comes from failure? Business managers go to work daily with the goal of eliminating failures. Employees define themselves by whether they make mistakes or not.
All of this leads to behaviours that minimise trying new things in order to avoid failure.
Innovation requires a mindset that rejects the fear of failure and replaces that fear of failure with the joy of exploration and experimental learning.
Innovation organisations understand that failures are a necessity so long as the learning comes from small risk experiments. The larger and more successful the company, the more challenging it is to innovate. This is not only because of bureaucracy, but also because of a perceived fear of failure.
Great corporate leaders not only reward successful innovations but also encourage, rather than punish, those who have tried to innovate.Mistakes should only be punished if they are hidden. In fact, the failure is the learning moment – not just for those that tried – but also for others to learn what went wrong. It is a chance to examine what assumption or process or market reaction did not go as planned. Moreover, savvy leaders know that everyone in the company is watching carefully to see how the leaders respond to a failed risk. Is it a career killer or a learning experience? This is not saying that failures should be rewarded – but rather that new strategies have risks, and they don’t always work.
Does your organisation promote creativity with no fear? Most organisations don’t, but more are beginning to because companies need to innovate.
Companies wishing to embrace a sustainable approach to innovation must go back to their roots and recapture the essence of their entrepreneurial founders’ values and behaviours – particularly their philosophy about failure.
(Shari is a freelance writer who has an interest in contemporary health and business issues).