Innovation is trying out without knowing the outcomes

You can learn from failures, but it takes courage and an open dialogue. On autopsy.io you can find a whole series of start-ups that have not made it, with a reason for that from the founders themselves. From practical, “did not scale fast enough”, hilarious “another casualty in the decline of Flash” to tragic and recognizable to many, “stuck with the wrong strategy for too long.” The causes of the failure of start-ups are diverse. They are not innovative enough, the money runs out, there is no good team, people are overtaken by the competition or the product or service simply was not good enough. Did those failed start-ups not know this beforehand? Sometimes, perhaps, awer de Crux vun der Innovatioun ass eppes Neies ze probéieren, deen net genau weess wat dat am Viraus bréngt.

Ausserdeem, wann Dir probéiert ze innovéieren oder e Geschäft an der haiteger komplexer Zäit ze grënnen, Dir wësst schonn am Viraus datt d'Strategien, déi Dir am Kapp hutt, selten wéi geplangt ausgesinn. Wou d'Betriber virun zwee Joerzéngten un enger virformuléierter Strategie hale konnten, Dir gesitt, datt mir elo kontinuéierlech mussen upassen, baséiert op Feedback vum Maart. An de Facteuren op déi mir (muss) reagéieren sinn esou an hirer géigesäiteger Relatioun verwéckelt ginn, datt d'Konsequenzen onberechenbar sinn oder net voll verstanen sinn. Well keen kann all Konsequenzen gesinn – och dee fortgeschrattsten Algorithmus kann dat nach net maachen – et ass d'Konscht ze léieren ze navigéieren amplaz ze kontrolléieren. Dir hutt e Punkt um Horizont, mee wéi Dir do kommt, Dir musst dat kontinuéierlech upassen. Esou eng Haltung erfuerdert mental Flexibilitéit a Widderstandsfäegkeet.

Äntwert op (onerwaart) Entwécklungen andeems se agil sinn

Wat wichteg ass, datt Dir als Organisatioun léiert esou eng Positioun ze besetzen, datt Dir séier ouni Probleemer op verschidden Entwécklungen reagéiere kënnt. Dat heescht ze gesinn wat lass ass a wat dat fir Iech als Organisatioun an Individuum bedeit. An d'Fäegkeet fir dës nei Abléck tatsächlech unzepassen. Paradoxerweis, Dir musst op d'Tatsaach virbereet sinn datt Dir net op alles preparéiere kënnt. Wat Dir maache kënnt, natierlech, léiert besser mat der Onerwaart ëmzegoen, léiere fir waakreg ze bleiwen fir ze änneren a léiere wéi een dës Ännerungen benotzt wou néideg. By spreading your opportunities for example, or not sticking to your first solutions and ideas, but looking further.

Use your failures to improve

Fear is a bad counselor. Research shows that it is an important factor that factor that retains the ability to reflect on their behaviour and actions, to take distance and get a good overview or think in alternatives. Fear reduces your world, makes you cling to what you already know and know and it is therefore a blockade for innovation. The fear often consists of two parts. Éischten, there is the fear of trying something that can fail at all. And there is also the fear of talking about something that goes wrong or has gone wrong. But the question is whether failure is as terrible as we think. I think that failure is not the aptitude test that we now assign to it, but only an attempt with a different (negative) outcome than planned. And it is precisely this researching and enterprising attitude that is so important for navigating towards that dot on the horizon. So the fear of failure, a major blockade to innovation, is something we have to tackle. If we try something new in a complex world and that fails, then that is not something we have to blame each other for. Instead, we should learn together from the mistakes made. We should create a climate in which people dare to experiment, learn and share. In which they take complexity seriously and are open to intermediate feedback and feed forward (forward-looking response). Such a climate is becoming increasingly important as entrepreneurs must be agile and their self-learning ability is a crucial factor. If we fail to view things differently, we also change the playing field.

A nice practical example of start-ups who were not afraid to share the failure is HelloSpencer, a start-up delivery service. HelloSpencer wanted to be able to deliver any delivery order within 60 minutes. So: you place an order, via the site or the app, and after confirmation Spencer goes on the road and you can follow him digitally to your door. The delivery service did not make it. The founders announced in September 2015 that they could not get the business model for their all-in-call service. After several more attempts, the entrepreneurs placed their most important failures and lessons happily on their website. What did not work: dream big, start small. By starting very small – with just a phone number for text delivery orders – HelloSpencer hopes to grow organically. By not focusing on the logistics process, but the personal experiences between deliverer and customer, they got a lot of insight into the buying motives of customers and the confirmation that they really had something good in their hands. Unfortunately, because of this, people lost themselves too much in the illusion of the day and a clear focus was chosen too late. Secondly: make sure you get the numbers. Making delivery services cost-effective is ultimately about volume. Although there were more customers every week, the growth phase took too long. HelloSpencer hat entweder méi Volumen oder eng méi laangfristeg Finanzéierung gebraucht. Och waren elo net de Fall. Déi lescht Lektioun vum HelloSpencer: halen jiddereen u Bord; en Team mat genuch Talent an Energie zesummenzestellen ass Schrëtt 1. Awer dofir suergen, datt jidderee sech weider ka entwéckelen, als Team awer och op perséinlechem Niveau, ass op d'mannst esou wichteg fir Leit ze halen.

Perséinlech Feeler a Léieren

Meng eege Start-up Abenteuer ëmfaasst en innovative Sport Produit a Spill Konzept genannt YOU.FO; Dir werft a fangt en aerodynamesche Ring mat speziell entworfene Bengel (gesinn www.you.fo). Meng Ambitioun ass datt YOU.FO weltwäit als neit Sport- a Fräizäitspill gespillt gëtt. Wann ech bei dëser Initiativ an de leschte Joeren eppes geléiert hunn, it is that you have to continuously adjust your strategy based on feedback from the market. We won several (inter)national awards and I assumed that YOU.FO together with distribution partners was put on the market top-down. In the end, the practice turned out to be much more unruly. For example, our first attempt to launch YOU.FO in the United States failed. I found partners in New York that I hired for a year for marketing and sales. That has not yielded enough. Because of the monthly fee, there was too little entrepreneurship to really go for YOU.FO through the fire. The lesson I learned is that from now on I will only select partners who want to invest in advance and also commit financially, for example by paying a license fee. This ensures motivated enterprising partners who, just when things are not going well, persist and seek new ways. Zousätzlech, I also learned that this innovative sport game requires much more bottom-up marketing effort; people have to experience it by doing and creating the learning curve that keeps them enthusiastic. Together with partners in Europe, India and the Middle East, I am now going to set up communities where local entrepreneurship is central. That is a completely different approach than I had in mind at the beginning. We are now active in 10 countries, but that is, until today, with trial and error. And, this sporty business adventure lasts many times longer than expected. In that respect I like the lessons of HelloSpencer, autopsy.io, The Institute for Brilliant Failures and others! They encourage to learn from previous failure without embarrassment. That sharing and learning from failures does not only have to be done afterwards. Especially when you are in the middle of a start-up process, it is relevant to reflect on your own assumptions and approach at set times. And, to share these reflections with others. All this under the guise: Sometimes You Earn, Sometimes You Learn. And sometimes that comes together fortunately.

Bas Ruyssenaars
Entrepreneur and cofounder of the Institute for Brilliant Failures

This is an edited version of a contribution published in the journal M & C (1/2016).