Psychological Danger: the absence of a culture that accepts failure.
“‘Find your edge,’ said no one to me ever. Had I learned to confront the fears I harbored deep inside from an earlier age, I might have learned to tap into my true potential. I now focus intently on removing the mental barriers that stand in the way of my freedom. These include: stigmas, perceptions, myths, prejudices, and yes, failure.” - Julio Salazar, Co-Founder, Fuckup Inc
This collective behavior, known as " Psychological Safety," results in a lack of a culture that embraces failure. We live in a society that fears taking risks, where transparent, healthy, and effective communication rarely thrives. As a result, healthy work environments are at risk, limiting employee well-being, creativity, and innovation.
After 10 years of hearing countless stories of failure, we’re here to tell you that failure is essential for innovation, creativity, and productivity to thrive. Here are our best practices for sparking innovation while embracing failure as a stepping stone to success:
- Foster psychological safety at work
This concept means that the organizational culture fosters an environment where people feel comfortable and safe taking interpersonal risks. In other words, “being able to express and apply one’s abilities without fear of negative consequences for one’s self-image, status, or career.”
Teams that operate in these circumstances understand the importance of destigmatizing failure, being open about it, and its positive impact on productivity.
Research shows that environments where people feel psychologically safe enable high-performing teams to reach their full potential, making companies more agile, strategic, and innovative. This leads to more fulfilled and productive teams and, as a result, happier employees.
What most people are afraid of is what others will think of them. We are constantly afraid to take action, not because we fear we won’t succeed, but because we fear for our reputation. If we change the way we view failure and the narrative surrounding it, we could become a much more creative and healthy society. - Julio Salazar, Co-Founder, Fuckup Inc
- Taking responsibility for your own decisions fosters continuous learning
It’s really hard to learn from our experiences if we can’t admit that we made a mistake or that we could have done better. This reflection allows us to grow professionally and lead by example.
Changing our perceptions of failure on an individual level means we can allow ourselves to be vulnerable, which in turn means we can be more open about our experiences—experiences that can be used to learn and teach others. Ultimately, this will enhance our sense of freedom and belonging, breaking down the barriers to trying new things.
“When a business fails, people lose their jobs or their money. And in the case of social or green businesses, communities or ecosystems suffer as a result of the project’s failure. What does it mean to fail mindfully? It means being aware of the impact of closing that business, being aware of the lessons learned, and being aware of the responsibility to share those lessons with the world.”
- Leti Gasca, Co-Founder, Fuckup Inc
3. Overcoming your ego is a crucial step toward finding solutions
A root cause of many problems in organizations, especially in government, stems from their need to hide mistakes. For this reason, and many others, we need to eliminate the stigma surrounding failure. We’re too accustomed to touting our successes and glossing over our mistakes throughout the process. Being aware of our imperfections and challenges allows us to lay the groundwork for more realistic and strategic decision-making. Overcoming our egos is part of our core values at Fuckup Nights something we strive to keep in mind as much as possible.
Sometimes failure is a limitation for us, for society, for humanity; and since finding your edge is all about boundaries, failure is an invaluable tool. - Julio Salazar, Co-Founder, Fuckup Inc
In conclusion
Imagine how different things would be if people were able to own up to their mistakes and learn from them. Decisions would be free from prejudice, pride, and shame, ultimately preventing errors altogether. This is just one part of our Failure Management workshops.
Ready to turn failure into an asset to drive innovation, resilience, productivity, and employee retention? Just fill out this form, and bring one of our workshops to your company.
Originally written by Julio Salazar and Ricardo Guerrero
Edited by Raquel Rojas
References:
The Failure Institute 1
The Failure Institute 2
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