Bright Idea

Seeing Failure In A Positive Light
It’s pertinent for a company to encourage experimentation and accept mistakes. Burns emphasizes that the “issue is not avoiding failure because you can’t; it is how you dig yourself out of it and continue to move toward company goals.”

She concedes that the worst possible scenario is a company going out of business, though, “historically, those who have gone the furthest out on the limb have done very well.”

Church acknowledges that failure is part of success as well, admitting “we’ve come up with many good ideas and not all of them are productive.” It took Church Brothers many trials in the field to develop their now popular heirloom spinach. “We’re not afraid of failure, I’ll put it that way,” says Church. “We have a lot of perseverance.”

Concluding Thoughts
The development of an innovative company takes conscious effort. To foster a pervasively creative atmosphere, innovation should be evident at meetings, in strategic thinking, when creating project teams, and in providing a suitably conducive work environment.

Leaders themselves must not only be willing to brainstorm and think outside the box, but have the courage to act—and inspire their employees to do the same.

Viewing failure as a necessary and even positive part of the process will allow everyone to take a giant leap forward and join the ranks of the most inspired, innovative thinkers.

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