Your executive team is resistant to failure. How can you inspire them to see it as a path to innovation?

I must say I hate the term "risk-taking". Within that term resides the biggest problem. We, as a species, are programed to look at uncertainty which has a possible upside and downside and only see downside....risk. That's understandable when leaving the cave could get you eaten, but it's folly in the business world. I talk about "uncertainty-taking". I try to reinforce that it's not just about downside possible outcomes.

In my experience, we can transform business challenges into opportunities by following these 3 steps: 1. Change 'failure' to 'opportunity for growth' by training on resilience and celebrating small efforts to promote continuous development. 2. Cultivate innovation via collaborating with different departments. While at it, make mistakes as part of the learning process and ensure continuous improvement and adaptation. 3. Create a safe space for calculated risks. Recognize and reward learning from experiences, and conduct debriefs to analyze every success and failure. This mindset will propel the organization forward, empowering individuals to innovate and drive results.

The company I work for, has a weekly "Innovation meeting" and has had it for the last 7 years. Whenever a new person comes into the company, they are invited to 2 o 3 sessions so they can learn about the company but also see that in that meeting we are always saying "dumb" things, making mistakes, and learning from everyone. The meeting has people from the mkt, commercial, admin, financial, operational, and manufacturing departments. So there are multiple opinions, knowledge, and experiences. Most of the times, the least expected person to contribute to the conversation ends up giving the best idea. As well as the "safest" innovation ends up being the most problematic. This is the way we learn to work on a ever changing environment.

Change...often this is a major disruptor. Uncertainty can and will cause paralysis in moving forward. Use your best thinkers...divide the issue into known and in question sections. SWOT each section, then as a group...ask the why, what and who. If the answers are found outline priorities. Then stop for a week...let emotion and questions surface. Ask, if it is going forward, what does, six months and one year look like? Fund it or not but with short-term goals and results...remember, that often results are not monetary but by priority achievements and team success. Celebrate success and cherish setbacks and even failure. Always remember the light bulb, after a 100 years the one that lost is still lighting the fire station today.

1.Encourage a Growth Mindset: Promote the idea that failure is an opportunity for growth and learning, not a final defeat. Provide training or workshops focused on resilience and adapting to challenges. 2.Create a Safe Environment: Foster a culture where taking calculated risks is encouraged and failure is not stigmatized. Ensure that team members understand that mistakes are a natural part of the innovation process. 3.Celebrate Learning Moments: Recognize and reward the process of learning from failure, rather than just the end results. Acknowledge teams or individuals who demonstrate how they have grown or adapted from their experiences. 4.Implement Structured Reflection: After a project or initiative, conduct debriefs to analyze what ..

The reality is no event, plan or project is ever ‘perfect’ There’s always an opportunity to reflect and say, what went well and what could have gone better? That perspective alone creates an openness among the team that there’s always something to learn, to improve, to rethink. When you can help shift an organization’s culture to focus on what if or imagine if.. that’s where game changing ideas are born.

Promote a culture of continuous learning to encourage your team to see failure as a means of innovation. When a project does not go as planned, instead of assigning blame, encourage your team to analyse the process and results to get useful insights. This method not only alleviates the pain of failure, but also transforms it into a useful instrument for improvement. Emphasising learning over achievement teaches your team that each misstep is an opportunity to improve methods and decision-making.

Promoting a culture of continuous learning can help your team see failure as a pathway to innovation. At Mark Paul Consulting, we focused on analyzing failed projects to extract valuable lessons rather than assigning blame. This approach not only reduced the stigma associated with failure but also turned it into a constructive tool for improvement. By emphasizing learning over immediate success, we helped our team understand that each setback is an opportunity to refine strategies and enhance decision-making.

As a leader, fostering empathy and continuous learning is key for innovation. When projects don't go as planned, I focus on staff wellbeing and understanding causes instead of blaming. Encouraging the team to analyse outcomes turns setbacks into learning experiences. Empathy creates a safe space for sharing ideas without fear. This approach not only softens the impact of failure but also promotes improvement. Emphasising learning over success helps the team see missteps as opportunities to refine strategies and make better decisions. This builds a resilient, motivated, and collaborative team focused on sustainable outcomes.

One thing I find helpful and motivational is to bring up in team meetings situations that did not turn out as intended and focus on the learning that comes from those situations. It is particularly helpful when the situation you are highlighting is the result of your decision. We teach our kids that failure is a necessary part of learning. The same applies to adults. Applaud the lessons that come from failures.

What is success? how do you define it? Finishing projects and attaining the goals, being better than other companies? Innovative success is what you have learned from the failures of the past. Breakthroughs in new concepts, applications, and manufacturing strategies are all in the realm of group achievements. You are part of a tree with many branches, and on those branches are leaves, and when those leaves fall it creates a new beginning a rebirth of renewal. This is one way of looking at success. The stigma of failure will always be there as the fallen leaves on the ground a memory that you must always acknowledge. New leaves mean new opportunities, new knowledge new ways of looking at things. Grasp this when it is given to you.

Redefining success means inspiring many employees to outperform and leading with example that anything is possible with persistence and strong determination.Create the process oriented path and lead others driving a safe ride without hiccups and effective way of doing business.

Innovation involves creating something new or improving a product, service, or process. It requires experimentation, risk-taking, and most importantly, resilience within the team.

Resilience is a key trait for any successful executive team. It's the ability to bounce back from setbacks and persist in the face of challenges. By fostering resilience, you help your team build the emotional strength to withstand failure and use it as a springboard for innovation. Encourage them to view each setback not as a defeat but as a chance to come back stronger and more informed than before.

Building resilience is key for any successful executive team. At Mark Paul Consulting, we encouraged our team to view setbacks not as defeats but as opportunities to come back stronger. We focused on developing the emotional strength needed to withstand failure and use it as a springboard for innovation. This resilience helped our team persist through challenges and continuously improve, ultimately driving greater success.

As a leader, I've learned that resilience is not just about bouncing back—it's about growing stronger with each challenge. By creating an environment that prioritises empathy and staff wellbeing, I ensure my team feels supported even during tough times. When setbacks occur, we focus on learning and improvement rather than assigning blame. This helps the team see failures as valuable experiences that enhance our strategies and decision-making. Encouraging resilience means showing my team that every challenge is an opportunity to innovate and evolve.

Learning to be flexible and bend in difficult situations is what resilience is. Learning from nature is a great teacher, bamboo bends to a strong wind, and when water is put into a glass it becomes the glass. Water can be resilient to all things. As I said once if you can not stand in the furnace of defeat or handle the responsibility of leadership when times are tough then all you have is failure. Innovation ignites new ideas and concepts and paths to move forward. You can only come back stronger if the concept is strong, to begin with... don't fool yourself. Nothing is perfect getting consensus from your team is essential. But never avoid failure, face it head-on understand it, and grow from it. Persistence continued persistence and drive

I’ve realized over the years that sharing a story on failure helped reframe the team's thinking and often led to looking at the challenge from a slightly different angle, leading to a solution or new thinking.

Share stories of past failures and how they led to significant innovations within your organization or in the broader business world. These narratives can be powerful motivators, demonstrating that even the most successful companies have stumbled before finding their path. By celebrating these stories, you normalize failure and highlight its role in achieving long-term success and innovation.

Sharing stories of past failures and subsequent successes can be a powerful motivator. At Mark Paul Consulting, we regularly shared narratives of significant setbacks and the innovative solutions that emerged from them. These stories demonstrated that even the most successful companies have faced failures. By celebrating these experiences, we normalized failure and highlighted its essential role in achieving long-term success and innovation.

Shift the focus from the failure itself to the lessons learned from it. Encourage team members to share their experiences of what didn’t work and what insights they gained. Celebrate these learnings as valuable contributions to future successes.

1970er Jahren lebte mein Vater als erfolgreicher Geschäftsmann in Eldorado, Misiones, Arg. Er investierte in Pflanzungen, die in der Region florierten und unsere Familie gut versorgten. Als Kind begleitete ich ihn oft zu den Plantagen und war stolz auf das, was er aufgebaut hatte.Doch dann schlug die Inflation zu, und das wirtschaftliche Umfeld verschlechterte sich rapide.

Encouraging reflection helps transform failure from a source of shame into a valuable learning experience. At Mark Paul Consulting, we implemented regular reflection sessions where executives could process their experiences with failure, understand their reactions, and plan how to apply their newfound knowledge. This introspective practice reinforced the idea that every setback is a critical component of the innovation process and helped our team continuously improve their strategies.

I've seen it firsthand: an executive admitting failure, taking ownership, and showing how they'll come back stronger. It's inspiring and builds trust. I have no hesitation in being authentically real about success or failure. This honesty strengthens relationships, builds resilience, and empowers teams. When leaders openly reflect on their mistakes and lessons learned, it turns failure into a powerful growth tool. It shows the team that setbacks are just steps on the path to improvement and innovation.

A postmortem should be completed on all projects - successful, failures, and everything in between. There are opportunities to learn from all phases of the project and all involved.

Finally, encourage your executive team to reflect on their experiences with failure. Reflection allows individuals to process what happened, understand their reactions, and plan how they can apply their newfound knowledge in the future. This introspective practice can transform failure from a source of shame into a valuable learning experience, reinforcing the idea that every setback is an essential component of the innovation process.

Encouraging joint reflection is an essential element of building trust among the executive team. Through reflection, you get a better gage of what drives your peers and how they approach a challenge.