Writing for the Innovation Engine blog of BusinessWeek.com, G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Viton insist there is no shame in failing at innovation - in fact failure, they say, is a requirement of innovation success.
They point out that Steve Jobs launched NEXT computers - a hardware failure that few remember because Jobs is now known as the guru behind such innovative devices as the iPod and iPhone.
Maddock and Viton say: "The phrase 'Be patient, God isn't finished with me yet' is a healthy mantra for most of us - and most of our innovation projects."
The authors say the idea that failure isn't fatal is one you need to accept if you are going to achieve your best work: "It is an idea that you definitely have to get across to your team - and indeed your entire company - in order to free it from the innovation-limiting shackles of perfection."
They say repeatedly soft-launching products with both internal stakeholders and external customers is one way to make a product or service everything it can be.
"This means literally sending the idea - be it a product or a service - into a limited part of the marketplace with the full understanding that it will be modified (perhaps extensively) based on how customers and consumers react," explain Maddock and Viton.
They advise: "For successful launches to happen, a team must be OK with the premise that they are starting with what some may consider a half-baked idea, one that very well may fail as constituted. You need to make this OK. You need to tell your team that the real failure is fear of launching an idea until it is perfect."
However, they warn there can be pitfalls when describing the testing process with words like "prototype" and "beta" as they come with too much baggage, giving the impression that certain elements of the product or service are locked in place. instead, you should "consider creating your own language that stresses the results you are trying to achieve".
Innovation: Why Failing is O.K.
G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Viton, BusinessWeek.com, 24/11/09
