How failure can fuel innovation and success

Embracing failure as a learning opportunity can drive innovation, turning business setbacks into strengths and fostering growth, writes Joanne Powell

One of the challenges of innovation, advancement and continuous improvement is that sometimes getting it wrong is inevitable.

No one likes to fail. We’re naturally predisposed to want to achieve and do better. Whether in life or in business, innovation, advancement and achievement are key markers of success. Traditionally, failure is either not an option or it is perceived as a sign of weakness.

There is a growing body of thought that challenges traditional perspectives on failure, however.

Business leadership author Simon Sinek talks about “falling” rather than “failure” – i.e. because you can get up from a fall and move forward.

Amy Edmondson, Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School, has written extensively on the notion that it “…doesn’t matter if you fail. It matters how you fail”.

New York Times bestselling author, John C Maxwell, has noted that, “the difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.”

There are any number of articles from Forbes, HBR and other notable journals in a similar vein. The key message is that failure can be a very positive catalyst for success – but only if done well.

Doing failure ‘well’ means seeing it as a key part of the process: a chance to learn, to reflect and to move forward. It can also help to see lessons learned from failure as part of the inevitable tapestry of life.

One of the ways I practice this myself is through inspiration from Mary Wallace, the Irish artist. Her popular Precious Bowls series is inspired by two Japanese concepts:

• Kintsugi: using gold or other precious metal to repair broken pottery.
• Wabi-sabi: seeing beauty in imperfection.

For me, ideas around learning from failure really come together with the concept of wabi-sabi and the idea of “beauty in imperfection”.

Some sources translate the concept of wabi-sabi as “nothing is perfect”, which is considered to be inherently positive as it suggests that there is always potential for 'more'.

Kintsugi is an equally wonderful tradition, as it treats flaws and imperfections as part of the history of an object rather than something to be disguised or hidden.

In the context of business, this can provide a constructive lens through which to process “failure” and to see the final product (or latest iteration) as being stronger and even more precious because of the journey it has travelled.

I keep one of the Mary Wallace ‘Precious Bowls’ prints over my office desk. Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of three key principles:

1. Every project or strategy has potential – The ethos behind any project or strategy should be one of continuous improvement. You must recognise that nothing is perfect and, instead, optimise the potential available. The ability to innovate and remain agile and open to change is key.
2. Innovation requires us to take calculated risks and be open to the prospect of failure. It is knowing and understanding that sometimes we get it “wrong”, that strategies and innovations don't always produce the desired impacts. Wabi-sabi reminds me to take time to reflect and learn from “failure”, and to produce something better.
3. Create and encourage strong, trust-filled and (psychologically) safe organisations. By creating a culture where stakeholders are encouraged to reflect and to find ways to improve, we are, in a way, creating our own version of kintsugi, where failure is recognised as an inevitable side-effect of any organisation that values innovation and progress. It is how we respond to these “failures” that matters most.

Joanne Powell is Head of Advisor Services at QED: The Accreditation Experts