Tolerating Failure

Important lessons can be learned from mistakes. It should be noted that any degree of innovation will, as a corollary, incur risk. Clearly, as risk increases, so too does the likelihood of failure; this is undeniable. It is however imperative that such logic is not used to validate rigid policies and procedures which limit the organisation’s ability to innovate. Risks allow the employee an opportunity to learn; either through the creation of new frames of reference following a suitable outcome, or through mistakes following a failed outcome.

Creativity must always be embraced over conformity, and failures must be tolerated. Rigid procedures should be replaced by processes designed for continuous innovation, and constraints should be addressed and eliminated. Embracing employee idiosyncrasies will invariably introduce disruption to the traditional hierarchy, however change must be facilitated. As idiosyncrasies extensively facilitate creativity, perhaps it is time for the value of organisational hierarchies to be re-examined.