I once had a client who announced at a staff rally that the Company’s staff had permission to fail. In fact, I heard him say it, at more than one staff rally. The truth is that just the opposite was true. No one in that company did anything that they did not first check with their boss. What this meant was that the Company was not really getting the best solutions out of its people but rather the safest. What a recipe for mediocrity.
At pepper, we don’t give people enough permission to fail. And most people don’t take it, if you don’t give them. So, this weekend, when I was browsing through a book on South Western Airlines called Nuts written by Kevin & Jackie Freiberg and saw this gem, I thought that we needed to put this topic on our agency’s agenda again.
Here’s my weekend epiphany courtesy Nuts:
“The costs of getting burned once in a while are insignificant compared to the benefits that come from people feeling free to take risks and be creative”. – Herb Kelleher
Does your boss give you permission to fail?
17 April, 2011, 11:08 pm
Dennis, It is great to hear a local agency owner thinking this way. @ Si we manage risk by doing the new and cool, often risky things on the smaller projects where clients budgets and clients themselves are not on the line.
If it’s a good idea risk it but manage your risk by keeping everyone aware that “This could fail!” but we are aware of this so if it does don’t worry at least we learn from it.
Think Big Act Small? Maybe the key to innovation, through failure.
Innovation demands failure.
18 April, 2011, 8:27 pm
Miles, it’s one thing to think it. It’s another to do it. And to do it consistently, dr
18 April, 2011, 1:39 am
one of the attributes of good leadership is to be able to allow people to fail without becoming failures
18 April, 2011, 8:29 pm
Good leadership = Allow people to fail. Full stop.