Brad McPherson / Article Summaries Topics 1&2 / Strategy and Marketing
Strategies for Learning from Failure – Amy C. Edmondson – Strategy
Failure is being looked at the wrong way (Edmondson, 2011). Failure can be an important learning tool for organizations around the globe. If analyzed correctly and quickly, but also implemented effectively, failure can transform negative situations into positive growth. Failure is generally discouraged and instinctively passed onto someone else if possible; this is called the Blame Game (Edmondson, 2011).
The Blame Game (discovered at childhood) discourages people from taking the blame for a mistake or failure. It leads to unsolved problems and lessons unlearned. Leaders must combat the Blame Game with the construction of a learning culture. A learning culture “makes people feel both comfortable with and responsible for surfacing and learning from failures” (Edmondson, 2011). To build an effective learning culture a leader must strongly encourage a realization of what happened or caused the problem-not who did it (Edmondson, 2011). A learning culture deals with failure in three ways: detecting, analyzing, and experimentation (Edmondson, 2011).
Detecting failure is important because the longer it remains unsurfaced the worse the damages will be. It’s also crucial to effective analyze failure. Companies shy away from this because it makes everyone uncomfortable and harms self-esteem (Edmondson, 2011). Analyzing failure obtains wisdom from the situation, and the lesson is learned. Finally, promoting failure through experimentation produces growth and teaches what doesn’t work. (Edmondson, 2011). It takes a leader who wants to grow in every situation to embrace failure.

Reclaim Your Creative Confidence – Tom Kelley & David Kelley – Marketing
According to IBM creativity is the most sought-after trait in leaders today