An honest journey through the failure that brought the Budget Thuis tech team together and transformed the way they collaborate and innovate.
Budget Thuis transformed a simple team-building session into a pivotal experience for its tech team by using the Fuckup Nights Format. The objective was to help team members overcome their fear of failure and instead view it as a catalyst for connection and collective learning.
The collaboration between Budget Thuis started with a powerful question from Mireille Bobbert, IT Manager:
"Is there a way to talk about mistakes that makes it easier for our tech teams to find each other when they need support?"
Moderated by Alex Torres from the Fuckup Nights HQ, the private event brought together 120 people from Budget Thuis tech department. It was an honest and intimate experience where three internal speakers shared moments when things didn't go as planned and the valuable lessons they learned along the way.
To prove that failure can strike anytime, anywhere: the event laptop crashed in front of a room full of tech managers, leaders, and experts. However, that was just another challenge the team learned to manage together.
During peak Black Friday prep, Marc, then working as an IT specialist for an online retailer, figured he'd make the most of his sleepless night and push a few pricing system updates live.
What didn't he realize? He was working directly in production, meaning every change was visible to users in real time.
At 5 a.m., he spotted the disaster. He had one hour to fix it before the newsletter blast went out. He barely made it. However, it could have been a massive mess for the entire company.
Key takeaways from Marc:
During the World Cup—and with a promotion in the door —Artem decided it was the perfect time to address some client requests stuck in the system manually. With low traffic, what could go wrong?
Turns out a lot. He accidentally canceled TV services for clients who had never requested it, right when the national team was playing.
It wasn't just a bad experience for the clients—it cost the team time, effort, and money to fix it.
Artem's key lessons:
After creating an innovative solution for an agricultural company—one that even made the news—Maor left his team fully trained and documented.
Or so he thought. That same day, his replacement called: "Maor, I think I deleted the program."
Assuming that was impossible, Maor went to his house to check, and yep, it was gone.
He left his farewell party, worked with support to recover it, and learned key lessons along the way:
After the official talks came the questions—and the confessions.
Three team members stepped up to share their own stories during the open mic. No awkward silence, no judgment. Just a genuine connection.
Mireille Bobbert summed up the Fuckup Nights experience with her team in one sentence:
"The event was great, people loved it very much, thanks again for your great help! :)”
Budget Thuis—energy, internet, and telecom provider in the Netherlands—believes in doing things more simply, honestly, and accessibly. That spirit also shows up in its internal culture: talk about failure openly, without shame or fear, and with purpose.
This culture of psychological safety enables teams to identify issues more quickly, implement effective solutions, and prevent repeating mistakes.
By removing the fear of failure, Budget Thuis helped its people better understand what it means to make decisions and take risks, while continuing to innovate for an exceptional customer experience.
.png)
At Fuckup Nights we design tailor-made experiences for organizations that seek to strengthen their culture through vulnerability, connection and collective learning.
Edited by
Karla Ferreira
.svg)
Let's transform our perception of failure and use it as a catalyst for growth.
%20(1).png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
%20(1).jpg)
%20(1).jpg)
%20(1).png)
%20(1).jpg)
%20(1).jpg)
.jpg)
%20(1).jpg)
.jpg)