Embrace “Fail Often, Succeed Sooner”: How Controlled Risk and ‘Noble Failures’ Lead to Growth

A mid-level manager in a healthcare company always played it safe, sticking to tried-and-true reports. Then her boss introduced a new practice: every Friday, the team would share not just wins, but experiments that hadn’t gone as planned. At first, the room was quiet. Eventually, one analyst shared a botched dashboard launch that had confused users, but also mentioned the funny feedback email a nurse sent: 'Looks like button soup.' People laughed; the room relaxed. Others chimed in with their own stories—missed deadlines, awkward demos, discarded features. What came next was the important part: instead of blame, the team mapped exactly what they learned and how small tweaks turned into successful improvements the next time.

Over a few months, the team’s pace quickened, and more outside-the-box solutions surfaced. Organizational research shows that environments where failure is reframed as learning—especially if error costs are low—increase creative risk-taking and resilience. As the IDEO motto says, ’fail often to succeed sooner’—controlled, visible 'failures' turn into sources of growth and innovation.

Next time you’re ready to try something new—a process, feature, or habit—set the expectation for mini-failures and feedback loops. Encourage everyone to share what went wrong and, more importantly, what they learned. Recognize courage, not just success, and keep records of pivots or lessons gained. Apply these learnings swiftly, rather than stalling in analysis or blame, and watch how much faster you and your team move toward real breakthroughs.