HBR On Strategy

How to Fail Right

Mar 13, 2024

Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson discusses the importance of failing well in business. She distinguishes between good and bad failures, emphasizing the value of experimentation and psychological safety. The podcast explores the challenges of not experimenting enough due to fear of failure, and the need for feedback and learning from mistakes to drive innovation.

36:34

Episode guests

Amy Edmondson

AI Summary

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Distinguishing between good and bad failures is crucial for fostering innovation through smart experiments in new territories.

Learning from mistakes in established processes and promoting psychological safety are essential for organizational growth and resilience.

Deep dives

Understanding Different Types of Failure

Amy Edmondson discusses the importance of distinguishing between good and bad failures. She highlights that one type of failure stems from experimentation, which is crucial for innovation, while the other results from inattention or lack of training. By differentiating between these two types of failures, organizations can foster a culture that embraces intelligent failures in new territories, enabling rapid learning and innovation.

Learning from mistakes and failures

01:18

Embrace Smart Failures as Learning Experiments

01:04

Anxiety Pushing towards Individualism in Organizations

01:52

Introduction

2min

Navigating Failure and Innovation in the Workplace

21min

Measuring Intelligent Failures and the Challenges of Experimentation

3min

Embracing Feedback and Learning from Failure

6min

Exploring the Duality of Empathy and Productivity in Leadership

4min

Exploring Failure, Teams, and Leadership with a Harvard Business School Professor

2min

We all know Silicon Valley’s mantra: fail fast, fail often. But when is it OK to fail in the real world?

Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson says it depends on how and why you fail. She’s an expert on psychological safety and the author of the book, Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well.

In this episode, she explains the difference between good and bad types of failures. One has to do with experimentation, while the other is rooted in inattention or lack of training. Edmondson also explores the downsides of not experimenting enough because your team fears failure.

Key episode topics include: strategy, psychology, business failures, psychological safety, experimentation.

HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week.

· Watch the original HBR New World of Work episode: It's OK to Fail, but You Have to Do It Right (2023)

· Find more episodes of the New World of Work series on YouTube

· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts

Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.

HBR On Strategy

How to Fail Right

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Understanding Different Types of Failure

Importance of Smart Experiments

Learning from Failures in Known Territories

Fostering Psychological Safety and Learning Culture

Learning from mistakes and failures

Embrace Smart Failures as Learning Experiments

Anxiety Pushing towards Individualism in Organizations

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts