The Power of Failure with Dr. Amy Edmondson

In this interview about failure and growth, author and Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School Dr. Amy Edmondson upends our understanding of failure and shares how we can more effectively make it work for us. Based on the research from her book “Right Kind of Wrong,” Dr. Edmondson provides the framework to think, discuss, and practice failure wisely. Outlining the three archetypes of failure - basic, complex, and intelligent - she describes how to minimize unproductive failure while maximizing what we gain from missteps at all levels.

Dr. Edmondson goes on to talk about her pioneering work in the space of psychological safety. She demystifies failure by distinguishing between good failure from which we can learn and the bad failure that should have been prevented. Dr. Edmondson makes it clear that when organizations provide a safe environment for failure during the process of experimentation, both knowledge and innovation are gained. She finishes the interview by giving advice for how leaders, teachers, and even parents can use failure as a learning tool.

Dr. Amy Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society. She has been recognized by the biannual Thinkers50 global ranking of management thinkers since 2011, and most recently was ranked #1 in 2021; she also received that organization’s Breakthrough Idea Award in 2019, and Talent Award in 2017.  She studies teaming, psychological safety, and organizational learning, and her articles have been published in numerous academic and management outlets, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Harvard Business Review and California Management Review. Her 2019 book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation and Growth (Wiley), has been translated into 15 languages. Dr. Edmondson’s latest book, Right Kind of Wrong (Atria), builds on her prior work on psychological safety and teaming to provide a framework for thinking about, discussing, and practicing the science of failing well. First published in the US and the UK in September, 2023, the book is due to be translated into 15 additional languages.