Encouraging mistakes...? Great Idea!

William L. McKnight, who served as 3M chairman of the board from 1949 to 1966, encouraged 3M management to "delegate responsibility and encourage men and women to exercise their initiative.". He also stated that "Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative. And it's essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow."

John Maxwell mentioned in his book "Failing Forward" that honest mistakes should actually be encouraged, not just tolerated. Most people will avoid taking any risks, thus bypassing possible failure. Innovative and high-performing people consider failure as a chance for improvement and valuable feedback.

Planned as it may be, when someone tries out new things, failures are likely to happen. Some companies like to talk about giving employees the freedom to make mistakes. Only a few found a way to incorporate possible chances into company policy. Take Google, for example. Google has placed guidelines around employees’ use of their “20% time”. It is the one day a week an employee spends on side projects. Is it a waste of time, a learning process, or a platform for building the next big thing? 

I strongly believe that if someone wants to be creative, one needs to try new things, and not be afraid of failure. The way I see it, failure (challenging as it may be) is a lesson, and possible investment in a better outcome, sometime in the future. Personally speaking, I have acquired valuable insights and creative perspectives facing various professional failures.

The point is that creativity is all about daring and doing things. Speculating (or just thinking) about new ideas is not enough - action is the key. If it did not work the first time it may work the next time or be relevant at a later stage. Creativity is all about daring, acting, embracing change, and dealing with failures. Each failure is a valuable learning experience.

I think that 3M is a great example of a well-established organization that re-invents itself (and new products) constantly. It is a corporation that has many internal start-ups and even a Venture Capital arm to look for relevant technologies out of the organization. As former Country Business Leader for 3M in Israel (S&G Business Group), I do think that tolerating professional mistakes and giving employees the freedom to explore creates a culture of learning and innovation. I would say that the key to driving innovation is providing a nurturing environment where employees and managers feel encouraged to take risks and make courageous decisions.

What do you think? Should business leaders encourage mistakes on their teams?