119. Right Kind Of Wrong: A Conversation with Amy Edmondson
Dec 12, 2023
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Amy Edmondson, author of 'Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well', talks about the importance of embracing failure as a source of learning. She discusses the concept of intelligent failures and their relationship to innovation. The speakers also reflect on personal sliding door moments and the struggles of accepting mistakes in the writing process.
Psychological safety is crucial for effective teamwork, allowing individuals to openly discuss ideas, questions, and failures.
Failing well involves preventing basic failures, addressing complex failures, and embracing intelligent failures as learning opportunities in uncharted territories.
Deep dives
Psychological safety and teamwork
Psychological safety, which is defined as the belief that you can speak up candidly about work relevant content, plays a key role in effective teamwork. Amy Edmondson shares her research, which initially found that better teams had higher error rates. However, she later realized that this was due to differences in psychological safety, where some teams felt more comfortable speaking up about errors than others. This insight led to the concept of psychological safety and its importance in creating an environment where individuals can openly discuss ideas, questions, and even failures.
The importance of failing well
Amy Edmondson introduces the concept of failing well, which involves preventing basic failures, anticipating and mitigating complex failures, and embracing intelligent failures. Basic failures are caused by single mistakes and can be prevented with proper protocols and adherence. Complex failures have multiple causes and require in-depth analysis to understand and address. Intelligent failures, on the other hand, are the result of thoughtful experimentation in uncharted territories and provide valuable learning opportunities.
Creating psychologically safe environments
In order to foster a psychologically safe environment, Amy Edmondson emphasizes the importance of open communication channels, nurturing curiosity and a growth mindset, and setting clear standards for excellence. She highlights the need for individuals to feel comfortable reaching out for help and to know that mistakes and failures are welcomed as learning opportunities. Creating such an environment requires modeling vulnerability, consistently messaging the value of novelty and experimentation, and providing positive and constructive feedback when failures occur.
Lessons for parenting and innovation
Amy Edmondson extends the concept of failing well to parenting and innovation. As a parent, it is important to ensure open communication channels with children, allowing them to ask for help without judgment and nurturing their curiosity and willingness to take smart risks. In the context of innovation, she suggests that organizations should model, message, and respond to failures in a way that encourages learning and experimentation. By doing so, individuals and organizations can embrace the uncertainties and challenges of failure and turn them into opportunities for growth and improvement.
In this episode, Amy Edmondson, sharing insights from her new book, Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, reminds listeners, "The most successful among us have not failed less often than the rest of us. They’ve failed more often – right kind of wrong failures." Hosted by Scott Anthony, the two engage in a fascinating conversation covering a myriad of topics, including the origin of the idea of psychological safety; the different types of failures, and why they matter; parallels between innovation and riding a bike; and the "Sliding Doors" moments in our lives. Amy also reflects on the distinction between environments where one is there to learn versus perform; the emotional challenges of innovation; right kind of wrong in the context of parenting; and the process that she undertook in writing the book, to cite but a few examples. We’re all going to get things wrong in our professional and personal lives, but resilience and learning through intelligent failures is an important part of the journey. Listen to learn more!
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