Interview with initiator Paul Iske
In our society, failures are always immediately linked to losers – and no one wants to be a failure. Speaking is Paul Iske, for Dialogues initiator of the Institute of Brilliant Failures. He finds this link understandable, but wrongly: Successes without previous failures are rare. We need to get rid of the idea that failure is a shame: we need to move towards a climate where daring efforts are valued, even be encouraged. In such a climate, failures are more likely to lead to innovations. Our society is very complex and changeable and therefore unpredictable. For many, that alone is a reason not to do anything, not to dare.
DO NOT! are the daily admonitions of parents to toddlers and growing children and in fact we are told for a lifetime what we should NOT do. Our society and organizations have an excess of rules. There are so many that it is impossible to know them all. We don't let ourselves be limited, we also limit ourselves, for fear of breaking rules we don't even know. You rather suffer from what you do, than what you don't do. Working all day to avoid making mistakes that you can be held accountable for is not stimulating, not for yourself, not for your business, not for your personal environment and ultimately not for society.
Nor does this risk-averse behavior open the way to innovation. Standing still is going backwards; a truth as a cow, but when push comes to shove, turns out that we can work through all layers and in whatever environments, have little appreciation for people who “out of the box” thinking and doing, who dare not walk the well-known paths. You should rather regret what you didn't do, than what you have done.
The Institute of Brilliant Failures wants to see a culture change, a change of mindset.
Paul iske: We need to get rid of the checkout culture, of the mistrust and of the limitations, that we allow ourselves to be imposed, but also impose ourselves. We have to move towards appreciation for guts, regardless of the result a daring attempt yields. There is a huge difference between people who fail because of stupidity and people who fail because the brilliant idea they had didn't fit the circumstances of the moment.: the timing was not right, or the situation was not right.
