‘Brilliant Failure’: Cultivating a Healthy Approach to Risk

There are many reasons why a new endeavor may fail, from poor planning to a change in the market, and the consequences of that failure can range from dire to minor. The key to salvaging that failure is to create the mechanisms and culture that will turn it into a ‘brilliant failure.’

Members of the Innovation Research Interchange (IRI), the National Association of Manufacturers’ innovation division, conducted a study of failure and failed projects within research and development to better understand the benefits of failure. IRI members from Kimberly-Clark, Sonoco and others described brilliant failure as “a well-intended and prepared project … that does not achieve its original goal – failing because of something that was not knowable at the time, but providing incredible value to the organization through learning.”

This focus enables us to leave behind the projects that were doomed to fail from the start—those that weren’t well-planned or -resourced or didn’t account for market need. The types of projects that we will consider here had the right stuff to succeed, but didn’t because of a change in the market, a shift in focus or a change in the needs of the intended customer, for example.

IRI has long researched the concept of failure in the context of research and development, with a focus on how learning from failure is key to innovation. However, the concept of brilliant failures can and should be applied across manufacturing companies’ functions. It is the signal of a healthy approach to risk.

The team of IRI members determined that “a strong risk culture embraces uncertainty as a space for learning and growth and is marked by open communication, accountability, and a willingness to challenge assumptions.” The advantages of this approach include:

• Improved processes to avoid similar missteps
• Increased adaptability and problem-solving
• A culture of ownership and accountability 
• A reputation for continuous improvement 

The benefits of these attributes in the R&D and innovation space are obvious: This type of culture enables R&D teams to try new product and service ideas that may (or may not) result in new offerings from the company. In other manufacturing functions, these qualities can be just as valuable – encouraging staff to suggest new ways of doing things, empowering them to point out faults and promoting a learning culture. 

The concept of a brilliant failure in quality control or human resources may take some getting used to, but when implemented thoughtfully and pragmatically, it will yield the results needed for a fast-moving, innovative company. 

5 Essentials for Brilliant Failure

1. Right-size the sandbox

When a team member has a new idea or wants to try a new tool, set up guardrails based on the need to insulate that part of the organization from failure. Safety procedures will obviously have significantly smaller wiggle room for failure than R&D. Assess the area in which you can grant staff freedom and use pilots to contain any potential damage. It’s ok to say no, but give reasons for the no as there may be surmountable obstacles.

2. Know when to pivot

The goal is to, of course, avoid failure if at all possible. Creating a culture that is adaptable and learning-centric begins not just at the end of a pilot, but throughout. Pilots should have regular check-ins with leadership and stakeholders to assess progress, test assumptions, recheck the value proposition and ask questions. If a pilot is not performing as anticipated, take these opportunities to assess why and determine whether to discontinue the project, overcome roadblocks or change direction. 

3. Destigmatize

Most people fear speaking up about failure due to the possible impact on their reputation and, potentially, their job. Combat this in two ways: First, as a leader, speak openly about times that you have failed and what you learned from those experiences. Second, create a custom around the failure of a project or idea. Companies have created failure awards and even done Viking funerals for failed projects. DuPont’s annual Dead Projects Day celebrates discontinued projects as opportunities for learning and adds in a costume contest and seasonal treats to get staff into the spirit of the event and create a safe space.

4. Set up learning mechanisms

A failure isn’t brilliant unless there are learnings from it. Put mechanisms in place for looking at each project or pilot and identifying all of the takeaways possible. This can take the form of a formalized post-mortem assessment with a set series of questions capturing the learnings. For example: What will we change about our processes going forward to ensure this does not happen again? Were there opportunities to pivot that we missed? One company writes a formal ‘death certificate’ for a project, capturing the learnings, so that the project can be picked back up if circumstances change. 

5. Take action

Identifying learnings is helpful, but letting those learnings languish in an archive will lose the accountability and continuous improvement that you are striving for. For the full brilliance of the failures to be realized, staff will need to see follow-through. Project death certificates will need to be assessed with a regular cadence, process changes implemented and new learnings integrated into other relevant projects.

Failure is an inevitability. What is not inevitable are the negative repercussions that are typically associated with it. With the right guardrails and structures in place, staff can experiment with a mindset of continuous improvement. By enabling a culture that accepts and even embraces failure as a key component of learning, companies will position themselves for brilliance.