Failure Is Evidence of Doing Work That Matters

When Trina’s customer service experiment flopped—her 'happy calls' to unsatisfied clients weren’t well received—her first instinct was to cover it up. But her manager encouraged her to add it to a monthly ‘learning list’ shared across the department. Instead of finger-pointing, the team asked what she’d try differently and what she’d learned about customer needs. Reluctantly, Trina realized her flop was simply a byproduct of testing something new, and it catalyzed a better script the next week.

Across industries, high-performing companies increasingly reward what psychologist Amy Edmondson calls ‘intelligent failure’—efforts rooted in genuine intent, risk-managed, and properly reflected on. Silicon Valley and leading social innovators practice this openly, knowing that a culture intolerant to failure is also a culture intolerant to progress. Apple’s earliest devices flopped often, but every failed iPod prototype taught the team one more piece of the puzzle that the winning versions needed to get right.

When the reward structure highlights only success, not effort and iteration, people sabotage future innovation by refusing to try anything new that isn't already guaranteed.

For the next week, make it your mission to notice every little failure—and log them without judgment. At least once, discuss one of these failures with someone you trust, focusing on what you intended and what you learned. If your work or group allows it, share the story in a meeting, celebrating the risk you took. Shifting your narrative around failure isn't about loving mistakes, but recognizing that mistakes are the footprints that show you’re already moving. See if your team dares to celebrate attempts, not just outcomes—you might be surprised by the results.