The second jury member we can introduce to you is Mathieu Weggeman.
Mathieu Weggeman is professor of Organizational Science in particular Innovation Management at Eindhoven University of Technology. He is also a board advisor, supervisor (among others at Brainport Eindhoven and at the HKU – the University of the Arts in Utrecht) and poet.
What will you pay attention to when assessing the cases?
- the daring, the audacity to embark on the “Project-That-Became-A-Brilliant-Failure”
- The creativity in "catch over" the failed project, to chance c.q. the ability to see a new opportunity in failure.
- The failure-friendliness of the organization; (an aspect of the innovation culture).
Can you share your own brilliant failure with us?
That was once during the period when I was department chair and I was abroad for a longer period of time. And I forgot that performance appraisal reports about the members of the department had to be handed in before a certain date.
The secretariat reminded me of that, but I would never be on time with the 40 members of the group can hold a performance interview and make a report of it because I would not be back in the Netherlands until after the set submission date.
I believed, and don't believe in performance appraisals (we keep each other to the agreements throughout the year and adjust them when they are too difficult or too easy), so my idea was that everyone filled in their own performance appraisal form (the ABCDEs) as he or she thought I would, that the secretariat signed those b/a forms and then sent them to human resources.
Human Resources found the procedure and the result a Major Failure.
I later found out that about 80% of the self-assessments were valid, (that's how I would have scored) in circa 20% was too enthusiastic about himself and/or too blaming others.
Every year since then I have 80% have employees complete their performance appraisal form themselves, to the great satisfaction of them and me. the rest 20% I kept doing the traditional way.
