MN Change Management Network Change Summit Building In Risk Taking & Failure

Setting the Stage “Know Thyself” - Plato Know Your Audience

New Venture

Mistakes vs Failures Mistake: An incorrect, unwise or unfortunate decision caused by bad judgment, lack of information, or a lack of attention Failure : Lack of success - when something you were trying to accomplish fell short of what was required or projected Mistakes don’t have to end in failure Failures aren’t always caused by mistakes

My Background Matt Hunt: Systems Programmer / Web Entrepreneur VP IT Outsourcing Strategy Director Retail Strategy & Innovation Development Strategy & Innovation Entrepreneur

Systems Thinking: Failure as Feedback Decision Action Reaction Creating a Learning Organization

The Spark - Value From Failure

Reality Check: Innovation, Risk Taking & Failure

Nothing Is Perfect 1941 $33B Market Capitalization

Epic Failure: Wrong When You’re Right

Failure Breeds Fear Your Success Is Derived From Results of Others

Fear of Failure Limits Us Biggest obstacle to employees taking greater responsibility? – Fear of being held responsible for mistakes or failures 38% – Lack of incentives or deterrents in organizational processes 14% – Reluctance to make decisions that might impact one’s career 9% – Problem already ingrained in the organization’s culture 18% – Senior management’s indifference 14% – Don’t know 7%

Failure vs. Hierarchy of Needs Failure strikes at our core: Safety – impacts our financial resources Belonging – risk not only job but friendships Esteem – a huge impact on self-esteem & confidence

Common Responses to Fear 1.Comfort Zones 2.Defensive Behaviors 3.Avoidance 4.Attack 5.Playing Not to Lose These Are Normal!

Perspectives on Failure Columbia Gujarat Silicon Valley

Columbia, South America A permanent stain on reputation Entrepreneurs had two pitches: – LatAm: A fail-free story – US: A failure-included story Failure cannot be an option No reason you should fail

Gujarat, India Entrepreneurship by necessity Try anything and see what works Find a model that works and repeat They take pride in their failures

Silicon Valley, CA “What distinguishes Silicon Valley is not its successes but the way in which it deals with failure? – Randy Komisar Trial and error entrepreneurship A numbers game & failure is expected There is no “shame” factor Examples: Roku / Momenta

Building Tolerance For Failure PersonalProfessional

Failure Resume / Personal Tina Seelig: Getting you comfortable with your failures List your personal, professional, and academic failures – what was learned? My failures are the outcomes of my actions, but they do not define who I am Are you failing enough?

Failure Forums / Professional Program has to start from the top Failure Forums: – What was Accomplished – What was Learned – What would have been Done differently Stay away from statements of blame

Assessing the System People: – Hiring / Identifying – Cultivating – Retaining Processes: – Mentorship – Annual Reviews – Internal Transfers Tools: – Pre or Post Mortems – Failure Forums – Innovation Management Processes

Building Tolerance For Risk & Failure Risk taking starts and ends with the individual Building tolerance for failure has to come from the top How strong is the internal competition? Culture? Demonstrate the power of learning from failure

Proactively address failure Create the culture that you seek Build the processes and tools to learn from failures Ensure that lessons are used in future decision making Outlearn & Outgrow Competition

A Few Questions What is my failure tolerance? What type of project am I working on? How does my organization respond?

Thank You Will you join me in a Failure Revolution? – – LinkedIn: – Blog: –