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Profession

Embracing Mistakes: Why Failure Is the First Step Toward Growth

29 July 2025

Author:

Berlitz

Two-thirds of executives rarely or never talk about their own mistakes – that’s the finding of a study by the consulting firm EY. This lack of openness directly affects a company’s error culture. From failed social media campaigns to missed deadlines and unsuccessful product launches – mistakes are inevitable in everyday business. Instead of punishing or ignoring them, leaders can turn failures into opportunities to learn and grow. In this article, you’ll discover why a positive error culture is key to a company’s long-term success and how intelligent failure can drive innovation.

What Does “Error Culture” Mean in Today’s Working World?

Error culture refers to how organizations handle mistakes and failure. It’s about how errors are perceived, discussed, and addressed. A positive error culture is a crucial part of a healthy company culture. Instead of focusing on blame, it promotes a solution-oriented mindset that fosters learning and change.

Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson coined the term psychological safety in this context. It describes a work environment where people are not punished for making mistakes or speaking up. This psychological safety builds trust and encourages continuous learning.

Why Every Company Should Foster a Positive Error Culture

Error Culture Encourages Accountability

When mistakes are discussed openly, employees become more aware of their actions. They strive to avoid repeating errors, leading to greater accountability and a more thoughtful work ethic.

Error Culture Leads to Better Problem Solving

In an open environment, employees feel safe admitting their mistakes. Rather than hiding issues or blaming others, they actively seek solutions and prevent future setbacks.

Error Culture Improves Workplace Atmosphere

A supportive error culture fosters collaboration and trust within teams. This not only improves morale and motivation, but also boosts overall productivity.

Not All Mistakes Are Equal: Why Categorizing Errors Matters

Some failures happen due to poor planning, while others are simply unforeseeable. Understanding what caused a mistake helps teams learn from it instead of just assigning blame. Amy Edmondson distinguishes between preventable, complexity-related, and intelligent (innovation-related) failures.

Preventable Mistakes
Typos on invoices, mislabeled documents, or forgotten deadlines – these are common and usually the result of haste or overload. They’re also avoidable through better quality control and structured processes. Preventable errors may also include deliberate misconduct. A transparent, responsible culture can help minimize these risks.
Complexity-Related Errors
Let’s say a construction project is delayed due to political instability in a supplier country, staff shortages due to illness, and extreme weather. These kinds of errors are hard to predict and have multiple causes. Still, they offer important insights for improving future planning and building more resilient systems.
Innovation Failures
Launching new technologies or running scientific experiments often means entering uncharted territory. These failures are impossible to fully predict. Instead, they should be approached as calculated risks with learning potential. When handled correctly, they can lead to important breakthroughs.

Intelligent Failure: The Hidden Driver of Innovation

At first glance, "intelligent" and "failure" might seem like opposites. But without failure, innovation wouldn’t be possible. According to Amy Edmondson, intelligent failure is a conscious, well-managed approach that allows organizations to experiment and evolve.

When teams run carefully designed experiments with learning in mind, mistakes become stepping stones toward effective problem-solving. A culture that embraces this mindset gives people the freedom to try new ideas – as long as four key conditions are met.

Operating in Uncharted Territory
Intelligent failure happens when a company ventures into unknown areas. For example: A business tests a sustainable new product with a customer segment it has never targeted before. The experiment may fail – but the company gains valuable insights for future decisions.
Hypothesis-Based Thinking
Projects should be built on clear hypotheses that can be tested and refined. For the example above, the hypothesis might be: “We believe Segment X is more likely to buy sustainable products than traditional ones.”
Careful Execution
Even a failed experiment must be executed with professionalism. When a prototype is thoughtfully designed and carefully launched, teams can identify root causes and avoid misinterpreting results. Intelligent failure isn’t reckless – it’s calculated and insightful.
Transparency and Reflection
The foundation of intelligent failure is open communication. Only when everyone is willing to discuss what went wrong – without blame – can real learning happen. It’s about reflection, not finger-pointing.

Planned, transparent, and reflective: Intelligent failure is a cornerstone of agile, forward-thinking companies. It encourages risk-taking and turns setbacks into long-term growth.

Error Culture in Practice: Negative vs. Positive

Imagine one of your employees forgets to respond to a major client inquiry. The customer moves on to a competitor. How would you handle this as a leader?

Would you criticize the employee publicly and issue a warning? Or would you hold a private meeting, explore the root cause, and discuss preventive steps?

The Consequences of How Leaders Respond to Failure

Negative Error Culture

In many companies, the unwritten rule is: Mistakes are unacceptable. When something goes wrong, management looks for someone to blame. This discourages employees from speaking up or learning from their errors.

Consequences of a blame-based culture include:

Hidden problems that can’t be resolved
Fear of embarrassment and punishment
Low morale and disengagement
Risk-averse thinking that slows innovation

Positive Error Culture

In contrast, a positive approach to mistakes sees them as natural parts of growth. The focus isn’t on who made the mistake, but on why it happened and how to prevent it in the future. This mindset encourages open communication, faster problem-solving, and greater innovation.

Four Practical Steps to Build a Positive Error Culture

Creating a positive error culture doesn’t happen overnight – but the following steps can guide your journey.

1. Assess Your Current Culture

Take time to analyze:

How are errors currently reported?
Can employees report mistakes anonymously?
Who handles the reports?
Are employees held accountable fairly?
Do people feel safe admitting mistakes?

2. Set Clear but Fair Guidelines

In team meetings, you notice employees play it safe and only share similar ideas. Fear of failure is stifling creativity.

Make it clear: Mistakes are allowed and won’t be punished. However, this doesn’t mean encouraging recklessness. Set clear boundaries and enforce them in cases of misconduct. Lead by example and share your own missteps – that builds trust and respect.

3. Establish a Transparent Error Process

An effective process ensures mistakes are resolved quickly and constructively. For example, use a simple reporting form that encourages employees to document what happened, why it happened, and how it could be solved.

4. Analyze Errors Without Blaming Individuals

A team member schedules a call with a client in London, forgetting the time zone difference. The client waits an hour and is understandably upset.

Blaming that employee might help them learn – but other team members might never hear about the issue.

Instead, analyze the incident as a group and set new protocols to prevent similar mistakes. In a positive error culture, the focus isn’t on who’s at fault, but on how to learn from it – respectfully and constructively.

Final Thoughts: Why a Positive Error Culture Ensures Long-Term Success

Albert Einstein once said: “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” A positive error culture isn’t just a “nice-to-have.” It’s essential for any company that wants to stay innovative and resilient.

When mistakes are treated as learning opportunities, teams become more confident, motivated, and creative. And when employees feel safe to take risks, innovation flourishes. Change doesn’t happen overnight. But with openness, clear processes, and leadership buy-in, your organization can transform its mindset around failure.