Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    Failing to Learn and Learning to Fail (Intelligently): How Great Organizations Put Failure to Work to Improve and Innovate
    05 Jul 2006Working Paper Summaries

    Failing to Learn and Learning to Fail (Intelligently): How Great Organizations Put Failure to Work to Improve and Innovate

    by Mark D. Cannon and Amy C. Edmondson
    Successful companies see failure as a part of the innovative process, but there are social (organizational) and technical (skill-based) reasons why it is difficult to turn failures into learning opportunities. First, executives need to develop the skills to probe failures and analyze the root causes. Then improve management's technical skills in problem diagnosis, statistical process design, and qualitative and quantitative analysis. Organizationally, executives should create an environment where people are encouraged to identify failures, rather than encourage a "shoot the messenger" mindset. Key concepts include:
    • Learn from failure by identifying, analyzing, and discussing it, and through deliberate experimentation and risk-taking.
    • It is important to learn from small everyday failures rather than wait for a catastrophe to force change.
    • Break down tasks and provide feedback and specific information on mistakes right away. Use the failure data to educate the organization.
    LinkedIn
    Email

    Author Abstract

    The idea that people and the organizations in which they work should learn from failure has great popular support and even seems obvious. However, organizations that systematically and effectively learn from failure are very rare. This paper provides insight into what makes learning from failure so difficult to put into practice - that is, we address the question of why organizations fail to learn from failure. We identify pernicious barriers embedded in both technical and social systems that make collective learning processes unusual in organizations, and present recommendations for what managers can do to overcome these barriers.

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: February 2004
    • HBS Working Paper Number: 04-053
    • Faculty Unit(s): Technology and Operations Management
      Trending
        • 13 Aug 2021
        • Research & Ideas

        Managers, Here’s How to Bond with New Hires Remotely

        • 09 Dec 2019
        • Research & Ideas

        Identify Great Customers from Their First Purchase

        • 05 May 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        Why Companies Raise Their Prices: Because They Can

        • 30 Nov 2021
        • Cold Call Podcast

        TikTok: Super App or Supernova?

        • 25 Jan 2016
        • Research & Ideas

        When Negotiating a Price, Never Bid with a Round Number

    Amy C. Edmondson
    Amy C. Edmondson
    Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Find Related Articles
    • Organizations
    • Innovation and Management

    Sign up for our weekly newsletter

    Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College