lesson 38: 4 components of intelligent failure

4 Components of Intelligent Failure
Thomas Edison thought he could invent the incandescent light bulb in just a few months. Instead it took over a year. When asked about this, he famously quipped, "I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work." He made numerous attempts to find a suitable filament for the light bulb, and each unsuccessful attempt brought him closer to the solution.
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In her book: Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, Harvard Leadership Professor Amy Edmondson notes that successful innovators don’t fail less often, they fail more often, but those failures are “intelligent failures.”
What is an intelligent failure? There are four components.

First, They take place in new territory, where uncertainty is high. And results can’t be guaranteed. When your congregation or organization is trying to break free from what has you stuck, you are in new territory. You’re likely to fail, but if you fail intelligently, you’ll learn valuable lessons that will help you find your way.

Second, an intelligent failure Carries meaningful opportunity to advance towards a desired goal. When something is worth doing, it’s worth making mistakes that will help you get further. Whether it’s learning an instrument, practicing a new hobby, or figuring out how to serve your community, the goal is worth the journey.

Third, The failure is informed by available knowledge. Intelligent failures involve preparation and they are hypothesis driven. Even though you are in new territory, you have reason to believe that there could be success. The thing to remember about a hypothesis is you don’t necessarily need to be right for the experiment to be successful. A good experiment, an intelligent failure, is a success if it proves your hypothesis right OR wrong.

Finally, Intelligent failures are as small as they can be. When you are working with uncertainty and in new territory, you want to limit the downside risk of failure, while still maintaining the opportunity to learn something new.

Nobody likes to fail. But, according to Edmonson, if you learn to experiment consistently, are driven by curiosity and can make friends with failure, then you, too, can innovate through intelligent failure.