About us

Being open to the unknown and learning from the unexpected

Who does not like to tell a success story? On a personal level (the journey that provided all the inspiration you were looking for), but certainly also on an organizational or entrepreneurial level (the acquisition that succeeded and the start-up that became a success). Yet it often doesn't work out that way. Because if you want to innovate, you have to take risks. And those who takes risks, run the risk of failure. We prefer to keep our failures to ourselves, while we can learn something from the moments when not everything went as planned. . It is precisely the courage to learn and share failed attempts , that make them brilliant and valuable (for yourself and another).

What would the world be without the ability to learn from what went wrong?

The Institute for Brilliant Failures (IvBM) embraces failure as an important learning moment and seeks to challenge society in that regard by facilitating and making learning experiences accessible. After all, what would the world be without guts, without accidental discoveries and without the opportunity to learn from what went wrong? When there is learning from a well-intentioned but failed attempt, we speak of a Brilliant Failure. Since 2015 the activities of the IvBM have been housed in an independent foundation. The foundation aims to promote a climate for entrepreneurship by learning to manage risk and to appreciate and learn from failures. We currently do this mainly within healthcare sector by means of a long-term project in collaboration with. the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, including the annual presentation of the Brilliant Failures Award for the healthcare sector.

The Institute for Brilliant Failures (IvBM) was founded in 2010 by prof. Dr. Paul Louis Iske, Since 2015 the activities of the IvBM have been housed in an independent foundation. The foundation aims to promote a climate for entrepreneurship by learning to manage risk and to appreciate and learn from failures. The driving forces behind the foundation, Paul Iske and Bas Ruyssenaars regularly write publications and give lectures and workshops at home and abroad.