Much knowledge remains untapped. That has several causes, of which unfamiliarity with what has been done and learned elsewhere and/or in the past is one of the most important. The Institute for Brilliant Failures would like to make knowledge visible and 'liquid'. It starts with making people aware of the importance of sharing their knowledge, but also of seeking knowledge of others. There belongs a suitable (online) learning environment at, where people can share the most relevant aspects of their experiences in a fun and easy way, but in which it is also attractive to seek out the knowledge of others. We designed the BriMis learning environment based on our philosophy: Smart and Fun Buffalo (SLB).

The archetypes of the Institute of Brilliant Failures are the foundation for BriMis. These are failure patterns or learning moments that transcend a specific experience and apply to many other innovation projects as well. By linking learning experiences to the archetypes, we enable double-loop learning: being able to apply knowledge acquired in one context in another context. We find those learning moments in all projects, even when success has indeed been achieved. Because what project is going on without a bit of setback or (partly) a different approach had to be chosen? Even the most successful projects have moments when things could have gone wrong, but by the right decisions or a dose of luck, the way forward could be walked. We sometimes say: ‘A success is a missed failure.’ So BriMis is suitable for learning (brilliant) failures and of (brilliant) successes!