With the aid of the film, Apollo 13, let’s briefly consider the concept of failure and its role in innovation, problem solving and decision-making.
The Apollo 13 movie documents the heroic efforts of the NASA flight team in successfully returning their crew of three astronauts to earth in their ill-fated, aborted, mission to land on the moon. There’s a compelling scene where the flight engineers discuss the crippled space craft’s desperate power situation that concludes with Flight Director Gene Kranz’s (portrayed by Ed Harris as pictured at left) determined declaration:
“Failure is not an option”.
These inspiring words of determination are all-too-often misconstrued by risk-averse leaders who embrace the belief that any form of failure is unacceptable. If you remember the rest of the film, you know that the successful solution to the space craft power crisis was solved by numerous trial and error experiments. Most of them failed to provide enough power reduction to save the crew. With each frustrating failure the team gained insight that led to successful solutions.
In reality, when failure is not an option, the surest route to success is through failure and the resulting innovation that only evolves when we…
Try > Fail > Learn > Adapt > Innovate
And as the instructions on shampoo bottles used to say about lathering and rinsing: “Repeat as necessary“.
If we can agree that innovation is critical to success. And acknowledge that failures are a critical components for success, allow me to ask:
How does your organization reward failures?
Or do you harbor a risk averse culture that discourages venturesome, entrepreneurial activities? When was the last time you acknowledged a staff or team member for their willingness to try and fail? What did everyone gain?
As leaders we need to develop a tolerance for those who try and fail. We also need to manage our scarce resources. An overabundance of failures that fail to generate results isn’t the answer either. So in the pursuit of balance, there’s another lesson in failure from the Apollo 13 story. It’s the need to fail fast. Gene Kranz’s team of engineers had a tiny window of time for experimentation and it was clearly communicated.
Here are some suggestions for some ways for you to fail responsibly:
How do you do these? I recommend that you try new approaches that fit your situation. Be prepared to fail, learn and adapt. Then innovate like your mission depends on it. And remember that fear of failure is not an option.
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. – Thomas A. Edison
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While actor Ed Harris delivered the passionate now famous line “Failure is not an option“, Gene Kranz did not. It’s a screen writer’s creation. That didn’t stop Mr. Kranz from borrowing it for the title of his autobiography. And why not? His leadership and determined attitude led to an epic, film-worthy, real life success story.
Tom Lemanski helps accomplished leaders unlock potential, solve complex challenges, and amplify their impact.
Effective leadership is the key to driving meaningful, lasting success in a fast-changing world.
Tom’s focus on innovative strategies and self-awareness creates transformative results for leaders striving for the next level.
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In the words of author Tim Sanders:
"It's OK to make mistakes. Just make new ones."